


Hello Sirs!

by Thisisentertaining



Category: TAZ: Balance Arc, The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Angus POV, Angus was never part of the BoB, Angus's Silverware, Angus-centric, Canon Divergence, F/M, Family Fluff, Gen, Homeless Angus, LIKE A LOT OF ANGST, M/M, Retelling of Balance Arc, Study of Voidfish effects, Violence is Canon Typical
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:35:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 146,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24035173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thisisentertaining/pseuds/Thisisentertaining
Summary: When Angus meets 3 unusual strangers on the train, he goes from suspecting them to trusting them with a speed that surprised even him. He isn't sure what it is about them, but their humor, enthusiasm, and overall strangeness is just... fun. It isn't long before he's inviting them to take an even bigger part of the case than he'd expected.When they part ways he is expecting them to be nothing more than a fond memory he will occasionally chuckle at, but then they run into each other again. And again. And again.Angus wouldn't usually mind (after all, he likes these guys), but it's really frustrating when half of their words are just static.ORWhat started as a retelling of the Rockport Limited from Angus's POV turned into an experiment to see what would happen if Angus was never inoculated, but kept popping up to help with the relic hunt anyway.
Relationships: Background Barry/Lup, Background Taako/Kravitz - Relationship, background magnus/julia
Comments: 282
Kudos: 162





	1. The Murder on Rockport Limited Pt 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, these first few chapters are going to be pretty similar to the Rockport Limited story line, after that though is when things will veer of course a little bit!
> 
> I will try to post a new chapter once a week, if that changes I will let you know! 
> 
> Trigger Warning: Angus is homeless, and will often think about the fear, hunger, and dangers associated with homelessness.

Angus had learned at a very young age that the best way to get people to stop asking you questions was to make sure they were occupied with answering yours. This strategy worked best with the questions that were pointing, that were personal. Those types of questions were the most distracting, the most likely to end a conversation prematurely. He grew more observant as a necessity, more adept at making connections. So when a well-meaning woman would ask where his parents were, he could respond by asking where her husband was, because the man she was holding hands with certainly wasn’t him. The fantasy pawn shop owner would ask if he had his family’s permission to sell the ornate silver utensils he occasionally had to reluctantly pull out of the ever dwindling collection in his bag. He would respond by asking how they’d gotten a ring that so perfectly replicated the one stolen out of a nearby manor a few months back. The conversations would usually end very quickly after that, with whoever he spoke with doing whatever they could to extricate themselves from him as quickly as possible.

Then, he’d stumbled across his first mystery. He hadn’t meant to solve it. He’d been somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be, just finding a dry place to sleep on a rainy night, and had been almost stepped on by a man walking quickly through the blocked-off pavilion. The man had asked what a child was doing there, and unthinkingly, Angus had replied by asking why he’d turned his shirt inside out so recently, what the brown-ish red stain on his sock was from, and why he was trying to pretend to have a limp when really there was a baton strapped to his thigh.

If he hadn’t just been woken up, Angus would have connected the dots much more quickly and not said anything, but he was so groggy, so tired, and so hungry that the words slipped out before his mind had processed them. Luckily an adventurer, one of the rare ones that could mind their own business enough that they hadn’t bothered him, had taken shelter in the pavilion as well. Awoken by the stranger’s questions, the half-ork woman had heard the entire exchange and was on the man before he’d had a chance to do anything more than gape at Angus’s matter-of-fact questioning. She hadn’t been looking for the bludgeoning murderer that had apparently been plaguing Phandolin’s streets for months, but was familiar enough with the taverns that posted ‘Wanted’ posters that she knew exactly how high the reward was for the capture of this particular criminal. As the woman had said as she passed Angus a small handful of coins into his hands for his help- less than a quarter of the total reward, but he was in no position to protest when she could have easily gotten away with giving him nothing- you had to take any opportunity that you could when they jumped out at you.

Angus had taken that advice to heart with a vigor that would have surprised anyone who hadn’t known just how determined he could be, how smart he was, how capable he could become. He’d started off small, reading children’s books featuring detectives and the basics of solving mysteries. The Caleb Cleveland novels had been especially helpful, to the point that he read them enough that the nice gnome running the library had let him keep some of the older copies they were thinking of retiring. The novels were well-researched, detailed, and had fairly complex mysteries for their reading level; enough so that the next time he went out to solve a mystery, he actually succeeded.

Once again he’d had to enlist the help of some adventuring grown ups to do the actual arresting and capturing, but they had been happy enough to split a portion of the prize money. This time he’d made sure that the police captain knew who had been the one to actually connect the dots. The man hadn’t seemed especially impressed. Or well, he had, but it was the kind of impressed one had when they saw a dog scratching at a lute and accidentally making music, or when a baby accidentally threw a ball and it landed in a cup. It was the kind of impressed that meant that you didn’t expect it to happen again, the kind of impressed where you don’t think the person actually realized what they did and why it was impressive.

Angus proved him wrong though. Well, maybe not that particular man. He didn’t tend to stay in one place too long, after a while the questions would start again, and his method for evading them depended more on shock and discomfort than anything else. Still, he proved wrong every person he met who assumed him solving a mystery was just a fluke, because he solved another. And another. And another. And another. 

And then, people started to actually  _ hire  _ him to be a detective. The first person to do it was actually an adventurer that he’d worked with before, someone who had helped fight off a group of arsonists while Angus collected the necessary evidence. They were looking for a stolen artifact-some kind of magic necklace, not exactly a rare item in Fearun- and had promised him a portion of the prize money if he helped. It had been a tricky case, but in the end he was able to help enough that they were willing to give him a slightly larger cut than he had been promised in the beginning. They left on a new adventure soon after that, not inviting Angus with them. Which made sense, most little boys didn’t have the option to leave at the drop of a hat. They had school, parents, things keeping them in place.

Angus left town shortly after, going the opposite way.

He’d nearly had a heart attack when one day a stranger came up to him in a library (The new Cleveland novel was out and he fought  _ necromancers _ in this one. Angus had only come across one necromancer in his detective-ing so far, and that hadn’t been fun) and asked if he was Angus, the boy detective everyone was talking about. He didn’t know why it had spooked him so much. No one was looking for him, that was for sure. However, he had gotten so… used to his anonymity. He was a boy you passed on the street, a child asking too many questions, an unlikely detective that made you scratch your head. He hadn’t been  _ someone _ , someone that would get noticed, in quite some time. (Had he ever been?) 

It was jarring to experience someone who had  _ heard of him _ , who hadn’t known him and sought him out. It was foreign, but he liked it. He hadn’t realized that he had missed being recognized by someone until it happened, which was probably why he had agreed to help on the case.

It had been a difficult one, the murder of a rich elf whose widow was demanding that the killer be found. Apparently, every detective and law enforcement official in the land had been called in to help. No one, not even a child who was more often than not patronized when he brought in criminals, was exempt. However, despite the dozens of sleuths pacing along Neverwinter, it was young Angus who spotted the bent nail in the corner, the scratch in the windowsill that was at perfect eye level for him. It was Angus who recognized the flowers below the windowsill as being a kind that would practically drench clothes in pollen, and would leave large orange-yellow streaks when you tried to wash it out. (At least, it did the time he fell asleep in a patch. Granted, he’d been there all night but he was pretty sure he’d been covered in less than five minutes.)

It was him that rifled through the rooms until he found the butler’s white pants streaked with the revealing color up to the knee, him who would have been killed when the servant returned early had law enforcement not been walking down the hall to hear the man threaten to ‘make sure he  _ can’t  _ tell anyone’. It was he who was heaped on with thanks from the still-grieving widow, and it was he who she declared to be ‘The World’s Greatest Detective’. It was Angus who had received a bag full of gold so large that he could barely carry it.

It was also him that managed to scurry away while they were still arguing whether or not they should wait and make sure his parents got the money safely.

He’d used the gold wisely. He bought the best detective-kit that money could buy. He got the fanciest outfit he could find at the thrift store, hoping it would make people take him more seriously. He even got an interception book from a Tabaxi running a small magic shop. He’d gotten a great deal on it too, the warlock had been dropping hints to everyone in the store about how he was having a clearance because he was moving the shop somewhere much more lucrative, but Angus had been the first to oblige them and ask where this new shop would be. The Warlock had taken extreme pleasure in saying that it was completely confidential, ‘real hush-hush if you know what I mean, hhmmm?’. Angus had gone along with it, affecting childlike curiosity and wide-eyed wonder until the Tabaxi, obviously feeling very smug and proud of himself, gave the boy an additional 30% off the already clearance price.

Detective work was much easier with all of his new tools, especially once he started to earn a name for himself and was hired more and more often without having to split his earnings. Sure, sometimes it was dangerous, like the time that he snuck into a robber’s den. He’d expected to be killed, but somehow through intelligence, politeness, and far, far more luck than any person had a right to possess, he’d managed to leave with not only his life, but also an understanding of thieves cant, a basic lockpicking skill, and proficiency with a tiny crossbow that he was able to sneak into his sleeve.

Life became comfortable, almost peaceful- at least, compared to his life before. He almost never went hungry, and had shelter more often than not. He’d  _ made  _ something of himself, became the ‘World’s Greatest Detective’, and something- some _ one _ much more than he would have ever thought back when he had first started stealing truths to use against those too nosy.

Most others that he’d met who were in situations similar to his own had gotten better at lying, but he’d always preferred his method of revealing far too much truth. His own truth he kept hidden, overshadowing them with the truths of others that they never wanted to bring out to light. As a result, he’d never gotten especially good at lying.

* * *

“What’s your last name, Angus?” A burly human asked, the dwarf beside him nudging the worn tract he’d given Angus closer as the wizard-elf leaned against his umbrella. Which he carried  _ in the train.  _ Angus would have asked about that to distract the party questioning him, if only that was the weirdest thing about the three men before him. There was so much information here. Each member of this party was uniquely odd and suspicious in their own way: from the way the Dwarf’s voice and accent changed every five seconds and his weird persistence to preach that stopped the moment Angus agreed to listen, to the human’s obviously weaponized glove and weird probing questions, to the elf carrying an ornate umbrella  _ inside the train, _ to their cryptic words about a place called ‘Phandolin’ that he’d never even heard of -and they were 100% lying. About just about everything. Surprisingly however, they were almost as bad at lying as he was. 

“McDonald.” He said after a pause that he knew was  _ way  _ too long. He wanted to wince after every word he spoke, from the initial paltry line about his dad not wanting him to worship pagan gods just to change the subject, to the weak excuse about visiting his grandfather. He even said he ‘wasn’t allowed to say’ where he was from. This was just getting worse and worse, but he couldn’t risk blowing his cover.

Though, if this conversation was anything to go off of, he didn’t think he had to worry too much about these three growing ‘wise’.

“Angus McDonald, you say.” The human man- fake-Diddly- said, sounding amused and Angus had to fight not to blush. How after all this time had he not given himself a last name? Really, he’d been a detective for two years now, and no one had ever asked him for a last name?

“Angus, do you like magic tricks?” The Cleric asked, and Angus had the tremendous stupidity to declare that his grandpa had promised to take him to ‘a magic trick’. He went with it, just to see what they would say but like the rest of his clear bullcrap, they seemed to take it in stride.

“Angus, are you off put by a bunch of grown men standing over you and asking you a bunch of questions?” Not-Diddly asked, laughter in his tone. And he wasn’t, really. That was common for a detective, and as a little boy who also happened to be the world's greatest detective, it was an almost every day occurrence.

Still, he couldn’t just  _ say  _ that. “No, I was hoping to meet people and make friends on the train!” He said, voice purposely over excited and chipper in the way that some people tended to just eat up.

“Even though you’re not allowed to talk to them, that’s pretty interesting.” Not-Leeman Kessler said, still sounding more amused than accusatory.

Oops, backtrack backtrack. “Well, strangers aren’t strangers anymore once you’ve talked to them and learned their names.” Maybe he should just, never talk. Again. Ever.

“Do you want to go to the Pleasure Room with me?” Not-Diddly asked, outright laughing as he spoke.

“I already went to the pleasure room, I went to my dad’s library.” Actually he went to the Goldcliff national library and, oh crap did he say dad? “Did I say my dad, I meant my grandpa’s.” Oh crap, no he had claimed to have both a dad and a grandpa, hadn’t he? Was it weird that he’d changed it?

“What’s your grandpa’s name?” The human, once again, asked, and Angus really wished he was thinking straight enough to distract them with something that wasn’t him, but whenever he tried to hone in on any of the weird stuff about them, it was like he had some kind of mental lock. He felt like he was trying to fit too many pieces of a puzzle together at once but some pieces were missing and because of it he couldn’t do any of the puzzle. Any time he tried to analyze the men before him, it was like his mind turned to static. It was an entirely unique experience and it was messing with him more than he wanted to admit.

Which was probably why he answered “My Grandpa forgot his name. He’s very old.”

“Wait, but you also forgot it, you never knew it Angus?” The man asked while the elf in the background started laughing so hard he was holding onto a table for support.

Angus blinked at the man for a beat, confused as to how he could have messed up the conversation  _ this badly.  _ World’s greatest detective, world’s worst conversationalist. “The memory of my Grandpa’s name died long before I was born. He prefers to be called grandpa. I call him grandpa, because he’s my grandpa! I love him.” Oh, oh pan-or whatever god that cleric was trying to sell to him. He hadn’t thought he could sound any faker, but of course he managed to surprise himself. How many times could one use the word grandpa in a sentence before there was 0% doubt that they definitely did not have a grandpa.

The human was whispering to the elf again, who was laughing so hard he fell into one of the seats on the train. “This is obviously a set-up. He’s the bad guy!”

Which…yeah. At this point Angus had to say that was fair.

The elf, breathless said “Let it ride.”

“Wait, just let me show you this magic trick.” The cleric said, and oh yes, please. Please bring the topic away from that disaster of an interaction. Then, the man cast zone of truth.

Oh… crap. Luckily, Angus had been in many a zone of truth before, mostly cast by other detectives or law enforcement officials when interrogating suspects. He was able to shake off the effects of the spell with ease and pretend he didn’t know what it was supposed to do, though he made a mental note that they definitely didn’t believe him. About anything. Which again, was very fair.

“Hey, the tingles went away. That was a weird trick.”

“Well, you’re growing up.” The human said again. Angus was starting to get why Jenkins went the long way to avoid their sleeper car. Unfortunately, they were just so  _ suspicious _ . They were also definitely suspicious of him as well, if the way they had all started to huddle in a circle five feet away was any indication. Did- did the Cleric just ask the human-note: he called him Magnus, not Diddly- to kill him? Uh oh, time to turn up the little-kid act. Even if it was probably too late.

“Excuse me sirs, do you have any fruit leathers?” He asked in his most innocent voice. Though, honestly, if they did happen to have any, he wouldn’t say no. Maybe Jenkins had some on the snack cart? If he managed to catch the killer then he could probably get the militia to pay for his train expenses. He’d gotten a can of pringles earlier with the same mentality, but man did fruit leathers sound good. “I plumb ran out.” Apparently that worked even better than he thought it would, because the man- Magnus was probably his real name- immediately started making excuses to leave. Angus couldn’t even get out a polite goodbye without the man interrupting. Oh well, he supposed it was better to be rude than to be dead.

Watching the group suspiciously as they moved on, he turned to the next page in his interceptor book. They stuck up a conversation with Percy- who Angus was keeping a close eye on as well, as he had put a fake name on his ticket and was middle aged and supposedly still hadn’t decided what school of wizardry he wanted to go into- and he turned to the book idly. He started as he read the first line, stomach sinking. Oh, well this was interesting.

* * *

Angus hummed to himself, tilting his cup to get the last bit of juice. Brunch had been fantastic. There hadn’t been any fruit leathers unfortunately, but there had been a fairly exotic fruit salad with fruits he’d never tried before so that had been good. He was glad that the brunch came automatically with the ticket, it had been fantastic.

“Did you enjoy your meal?” A familiar, somewhat mockable voice sounded and Angus looked up to see Jenkins with a rolling cart. Angus nodded as he stacked his plates and handed them off to the man. Jenkins seemed surprised that Angus had finished the whole meal, but the man didn’t need to know about the waffle croutons that Angus had squirreled into his pockets for another time.

“Yeah! It was really really good.” He smiled at the wizard attendant, as sweetly and innocently as he could muster. Jenkins was as much as suspect as anyone else on this train, which meant Angus had to keep him at arm’s length.

“I’m glad, it is my pleasure to add to the enjoyment of all the passengers aboard the Rockport limited. Can I get you anything else? Some more juice perhaps?”

“No thank you, sir. Though I appreciate the offer.”

“Perhaps you would enjoy revisiting the Pleasure Chamber? There are many locations I know of that a child such as yourself may enjoy visiting.”

Alarm bells sprang up in Angus’ mind. Why was Jenkins so insistent, had he realized who Angus was? Was he the murderer? The boy detective glanced down at the cart, mind going a million miles a minute as he tried to piece through his suspicion and determine if he had been found out. No clues were immediately forthcoming, the cart held only the dishes from the meals Angus had carefully kept track of being served; Jess the Beheader’s all protein meal, Grahm’s eclectic mix of just about everything, Angus’s own plates, all that was missing was-oh.

Angus had to bite his lip to keep from laughing as he deduced the man’s true reason for lingering. The only people left were… those three. Fake Kessler, Diddly-Magnus, and “Justin”, and Jenkins clearly was not eager to interact with them. “Not right now sir, Thank you.” Angus chirped. “My, uh, grandpa?” Yes, it was grandpa. “Says not to do anything strenuous right after eating.”

“I uh, I believe that mostly applies to swimming.” Jenkins tried.

Angus cocked his head, now genuinely curious. “Can your pleasure chamber take me to a swimming pool? Could I actually swim in it?”

“Of course. There are plenty of indoor swimming pools that I know of that we can use the Pleasure Chamber to visit if you would like.”

“That sounds awesome! I want to do that! But, uh, oh darn it sounds like I have to wait. Can I try in an hour?”

One of Jenkin’s eyebrows twitched, angry. “Oh course,” He said, that same pleasant-but-odd tone he’d always had. “Just let me know when you are ready.

No longer having an excuse, the man went over to clear up the plates of the three suspicious men. Angus heard the attendant offering them the Pleasure Chamber again-possibly trying to get all of his required interaction with the men done at once- and then loud laugher as they undoubtedly made another goof. Angus noticed that they did follow the man to the other train car eventually. Jess and Percy wandered to other cars as well now that the meal was over, giving Angus free reign of the dining car. The boy frowned at his book, strumming his fingers along the table restlessly.

He had already known that the men were lying, but the missive he received had confirmed it, and gave him some evidence that he could use to actually accuse them. The question was, did he want to? Normally, evidence like this- the lying, the false identities, the strange behavior- would have pointed the finger at them being the killers that he was searching for. Somehow, however, that just didn’t feel right to Angus. Maybe it was their genial attitude, maybe it was the way they seemed to be seeking someone just as he was.

Maybe it was their complete lack of competence. Yeah, that was probably it.

Angus really doubted that those three would have been able to kill all those people without dropping some kind of clue that Angus would have already picked up. If they were the culprits, they would have been in a jail cell long before now. However, he couldn’t be sure. He still wanted to present them with this evidence, see their reaction and judge for sure whether he thought they were his bounty.

To what end though? If they weren’t the Rockport Slayer, what should he do? They were definitely adventurers, and Angus had worked with men like them many times in the past. They may even be looking for the Rockport Slayer themselves, he knew that there was a bounty posted for the man at several bars across the city. It would mean splitting the bounty, but it could be worth it since the case had the potential of being very dangerous. He was planning to gather evidence and give it to the militia when he got to the city and allow them to make the actual capture, but that ran the risk of the killer escaping in the meantime. That danger was especially potent because Angus would have to wait a full hour after the train docked before he could go out and find an officer.

He had given the conductor his prized silverware when he’d arrived. Sure, it probably wasn’t valuable enough for the Rockport Slayer, (it might have been at one point, but Angus had been selling it piecemeal for years now. It was the only thing he had left of a past he’d been too young to remember, but sometimes the choice was between preserving the precious cutlery or getting that vital piece of food or medicine or shelter. It broke his heart a little each time he had to part, but pragmaticism grew from necessity.) but he didn’t want to risk leaving it behind.

So, it would be… useful if the adventurers were willing to team up with him as so many others had in the past. That was, so long as he was completely confident that they weren’t the killer themselves.

The boy perked as the door opened just as he made up his decision, the three adventures and Jenkins entering the car. The attendant quickly strode past Angus, apparently eager to put distance between himself and the other three.

Angus closed his book and set it aside as one hand rose to push his glasses up his face. “Hello sirs! How was your trip?”

Magnus whispered, loudly. “Don’t trust him.”

“Mmkay.” Angus responded, as he remembered their earlier disastrous conversation. Right. Maybe him trusting them wasn’t going to be the biggest problem.

“Pretty good, Angus. We had a good time. Uh, we sure missed you, though.” Taako said with a false smile. 

Angus fought the urge to roll his eyes at that, though a smile tried to pull at his lips at the same time. He didn’t know why, but interacting with these guys was just  _ fun. _ “I missed you too. Hey, I forgot to ask! What’re y’all going to Neverwinter for?”

“…business.” The human said uncertainty as the dwarf claimed they were going to visit relatives. Oh, his accent was back.

“Oh, you also have relatives? I wonder if my grandpa knows your relatives.” Doubtful because he didn’t exist, but it was always interesting to see how people reacted when you caught them in a lie. “What relatives are they?”

“Uh,” The dwarf said. “The distant ones.”

Angus bit back another smile. See, fun. “Like, familial relationship or are we talking about geographical?”

“Emotional.” Magnus said dryly. Which, were they trying to say the relatives were related to all of them? The elf, dwarf, and human? Well, adoption was a thing, so it wasn’t impossible, but still with each obvious lie Angus was growing more amused and more convinced that these guys were not the meticulous, careful criminal he had been chasing. The Dwarf started on a long winded explanation of how the relative wasn’t technically related and bla bla.

“What’s his name?” Angus asked, internally smiling at turning the questions that had tripped him up earlier against them.

“His name is, uh Willard.”

“And what are you guys’ names?” Angus asked. The dwarf blinked at him, confused.

“I’m Leeman.”

“Still Diddley.” Magus replied.

“No, I’m sorry. What are your guys real names?” And now Angus did smile at their blank reactions. The reveal had been perfect, with just the right amount of spectacle to really trip up his targets. Caleb Cleveland would be proud.

“Huh?” Magnus asked, face blank.

“Uh,” Not-Leeman said, face blank-er somehow.

“’Scuse?” Magnus again.

“What do you mean, Pumpkin?” The elf asked, clearly possessing the most composure of the group. A fact proven when the human cut in afterwards.

“Pardonez-moi?”

“What are the names that aren’t fake that you guys actually have?”

This, expectedly, set off another bout of far too loud whispering that they didn’t trust him and pondering if they should kill him. Funny, somehow Angus couldn’t find it within himself to actually be scared of them.

That could come back to bite him in the butt. Luckily though, he didn’t put down his guard completely and was able to deftly yank his book away when the human tried to grab it. “Don’t do- Don’t try that again! I need to know what your guys’s names are, right now!”

Of course he tried it again. This time the human managed to grab it, because he was a large, intimidating fighter and Angus was just a small boy. Angus huffed, dropping his attempt to sound authoritative because it obviously wasn’t working.

“Okay, that’s not cool, man. I get it, I’m not as tall as you are-“

The man laughed condescendingly. The Dwarf interrupted a moment later, insisting that it was just a little prank. Which didn't completely make sense considering Angus was  _ trying  _ to have a serious conversation with them. He tried to steer them back on track. “It’s a great prank, and a really good goof. Now, I need to know what your reasons fo-'' Angus cut off as Magnus made as if to throw the book, but the man tossed it to the elf, arching it over the child's head.

“Oh so we’re doing this now, huh?”

“It’s called monkey in the middle.” Not-Kessler explained.

“I know what it’s called.” Angus said with a huff.

“No, I-I can’t read magic.” Magnus explained. Oh, that made sense. Though, the man didn’t say it apologetically or as if he was trying to explain it to Angus, more like he wanted the elf to start reading.

The room was silent for a moment until the wizard started reading the missive that Angus had recently intercepted,  _ Leeman Kessler and Co. not who they say they are. STOP Charm magic spell performed at the station. STOP Hand over to authorities immediately upon arrival in Neverwinter. STOP _

“Angus, where did you get this book?” Magnus was suddenly serious and, and thank goodness they could finally get somewhere.

He shook his head. “That’s not important, what is important is that the three of you tell me exactly what you’re doing on this train and what your real names are.”

The elf smirked. “How about we have the book, so why don’t you tell us some stuff and then we’ll give you your book back.”

Magnus grinned, looking triumphant as though the elf had brought up some fantastic point. “Quid pro quo, Mister Angus, quid—pro—quo!”

“What he said!” The elf replied, equally as triumphant.

“How about I’m a little boy who knows that you’re lying, and I can yell and yell and yell, and get you in lots of trouble.” It was one of the few quills he had in his I-am-a-literal-child quiver and while it may not be the most dignified thing, he certainly was not afraid of using it.

The dwarf replied “How about except for me, we’re much bigger than you and we can thump your gourd.”

That sounded unpleasant. Manus seemed to agree as he protested “Okay, wait, wait, hold on-“

Only to be interrupted by the elf protesting the dwarf’s truly terrible accent. Suddenly the wizard stopped and turned to Angus. “Um, you know what? Here.” And tossed him the book. Angus scrambled to catch it and pulled it to his chest the instant his fingers brushed the pages. That was… surprising, but he relaxed as the rush of relief that came with knowing that he had back his second most prized possession.

“Thanks.” He said sincerely as the elf introduced himself. Apparently he was from someplace known as TeeVee, and seemed very proud of it. Angus glanced around the three men and wondering to himself at what point in that interaction he had come to the decision to trust them. He couldn’t think of it, nor could he come up with any reason why he should trust them, but something deep and instinctual and crucial to his detective-work had already accepted them. “I can explain everything if you come with me in my sleeper car. There might be prying eyes and listening ears.”

Magnus made a joke about three grown men following him to his sleeper car, which Angus tactfully ignored, mind already running through how he would explain everything.

“My name is Angus McDonald. That part you already know. Uh, I am, and I’m not being braggy, because I— my grandpa says not to do that, but I am the world’s greatest detective.” Okay, maybe he wasn’t explaining  _ everything _ , but he would explain everything that they needed to know.

Taako rolled his eyes, and Angus felt a familiar spark of annoyance at the clear dismissal, which may explain why he replied with a snappish “Okay. I mean I- I did detective good enough to see through your horse crap like it was cling-wrap, so I can’t be too bad.”

The dwarf replied- for some reason in that horrible accent he kept going in and out of. “Are you saying you’re a boy detective.”

Now it was Angus’s turn to roll his eyes. “I-If you want to be reductive. I have a motto and that’s ‘Age ain’t no thing.’” Nope, that sounded bad. He needed to come up with a new fake motto. Or, better yet, just get to the task at hand. Yes, the latter would probably be much better. “Anyway, I’m the world’s greatest detective and I’m on the trail of a serial killer named the Rockport Slayer.” The three listened intently as he explained about the killer he’s pursuing, and for all of their goofs, they actually seem to be taking it better than many adults he’d come across. That was something at least. Theboy couldn’t help the small zing of excitement that coursed through him when Magnus’s next words weren’t yet another dig at his abilities, but were instead the declaration that they may be able to work together.

Only, nope. He didn’t want to tell Angus the name of the organization they worked for. Can you say suspicious?

“What’s it called?” Angus interrupted.

Magnus stuttered for a moment. “I can’t… tell you. I literally-“

Angus shook his head. He wasn’t sure why he was so caught up on this, not when he was hiding plenty himself. Still, alarm bells were ringing in his head. The thing was, they weren’t necessarily bells screaming ‘Danger! Danger!’, no, they were the bells that he followed to a good mystery, the pull of intuition that always brought him to something interesting. “Good detective work requires that you obtain as much information about the case as you possibly can.”

The elf, Taako, suddenly declared- “I’ll tell him what it’s called. It’s called the ****** of *******.”

Angus shot up, ignoring the goofs of the other two men, his mind racing. See? Interesting. That wasn’t a natural noise, it was barely a noise at all. It was just a fuzzy sort of static that he was having trouble recalling the exact sound of even now. That wasn’t natural. Which meant… “Is there some sort of magical charm preventing you from telling me what it actually is?”

“Well,” The cleric, Merle, replies. “Well, the thing- the thing that’s preventing it is the ****** of ****** that we wear on our ******.”

“Okay…” Angus said, eyes flashing over the three. They were all dressed rather eclectically, the elf like some kind of fashion-wizzard, the human in practical tactical fighting gear, the dwarf in a flowery shirt. The only thing that they all had in common were the- “Oh, I see. Those are some sort of communication-impeding bracers, right?” That would be the first he’d heard of something like that. Perhaps it was a manipulation of the confusing spell, one that affected only those within a certain distance not wearing the bracers, maybe it was-

“Dang Angus!” The human called appreciatively, and the boy detective jumped, having forgotten his audience. He quickly grew a blush however, when Taako added,

“You are good. Whoo!”

“You are, you’re real good!”

“That was, uh, right between the eyes. Got ‘em.”

Angus felt the blush spread across his face. It wasn’t that his abilities were never praised or anything, quite the opposite. He’d had many influential, powerful humanoids lauding his ability to solve a mystery. It just… usually they weren’t this enthusiastic. This seemed more genuine somehow, it affected him differently than a handshake from the militia captain. He didn’t know how to react.

He liked it, and that scared him. It scared him because he knew he would miss it.

Angus quickly turned the conversation back to the mystery at hand, but was almost immediately stopped by Taako asking about the message that he’d gotten. Angus checked the book for the sender quickly. “Uh, according to this it was sent through a magical line down the rails by a Tom Bodett.”

Merle pointed an accusing finger at his companions. “I knew killing him- I told you-“

“Aw,” Magnus said faux-mournfully. “We should’ve killed Tom Bodett!”

“I knew it!” A triumphant Merle exclaimed.

Taako laughed. “If memory serves me, we didn’t even need to cast it. We just did it for the giggles.”

“So good job us.” Magnus said with a laugh and Angus felt his lips twitching. He’d worked with a lot of adventurers throughout his detective career, but he didn’t think he’d ever worked with any he just… liked, as much as he liked these men. Which was odd, they certainly weren’t nice. They might not even be good, but… he liked them.

Again, that was dangerous. Again, he tried to bring the matter back to the murder, asking about anything of value the real Kessler would have had, but that just brought them back to static noises. That should have been annoying, but it was too interesting to bother him too much.

“Look, kid,” Merle suddenly interrupted. “We’re taking a lot of things on faith here. You’re going to have to take some things on faith too.” That was fair.

Magnus cut in. “Angus, here’s what we can tell you.”

“Okay.” The boy replied, taking mental notes.

The human fighter took a seat, which brought his height to only a few inches above Angus’s standing. “This— this item, if it falls into the wrong hands, is remarkably dangerous, is incredibly bad.”

Angus nooded. “And this item, if my suspicions are to be believed, is locked up in the safe in the— in the cargo car. Is that correct?”

Magnus made a face. “Well, that’s not really that impressive. That’s where we lock stuff up, Angus. You didn’t really, like, deduce the crap out of that one.”

Angus felt his face heat with awkwardness, he wasn’t trying to- Luckily, Taako interrupted. “He wasn’t- he wasn’t showboating.

“Oh, okay.”

“Yeah,” Angus agreed, still feeling somewhat awkward. “I’m just sort of working with you now.”

“Oh yes, then yes, you’re correct. Uh, that is correct, Angus. Um, it’s stored back there—”

Angus let his voice grow shakily, sending the man sad eyes in his own form of teasing, mostly to keep the amusement at bay. “Oh no, it’s too late for that conversation, but let’s move on.”

The man immediately began talking up how dangerous the mysterious item was, which Angus could believe if there was powerful magic keeping even its name from being understood. Angus suggested speaking to the engineer but was immediately shut down by Taako. 

“Here’s the problem: What we’re talking about is so, like, big deal, we, we— this is- this is gonna sound phony, but we don’t know who we can trust. Listen. Look at us. We’re three grown men trusting a baby with the secrets. We’re not professionals—”

Angus interrupted hotly, his age always a hot button issue. “I’m not a baby! I’m f— I’m a— I’m a— a— eight-” Oh crap, how old was he again? Wait that wasn’t important, he had no clue how old he actually was, how old did he tell them he was? Did he say an age? “What— How old—? I’m ten— Did I say how old I was last time?”

“Ten.” Merle answered immediately, and yeah that worked. 

“Ten it is!” 

Taako laughed, “A master of observation indeed.” 

“It’s this attention to detail that convinced us.” Merle agreed, though none of them bothered to point out how absolutely buck wild it was that he didn’t know his own age. Beyond all reason, Angus was starting to  _ really _ like these guys. Still, he didn’t want them to start looking more closely at how none of his answers were very good.

The detective began to turn attention back to the case at hand, both the mysterious object and to the Rockport Slayer. However, he’d barely gotten a few sentences out when a shadowy figure passed the window of the sleeper car, and Angus remembered abruptly that there was a serial killer on the trains, and the cars were not known for being soundproof.

The boy immediately quieted.

“I have reason to believe the Rockport Slayer is—”

“I can’t hear you!” Taako protested loudly. 

Still whispering, but a little louder, Angus responded. “Well there—”

Magnus asked, even louder than Taako, “What was that?”

Angus made his whisper just a little louder. “I don’t— P- prying eyes!”

“What?” Merle was basically shouting. 

“Prying eyes—”

Magnus got even louder. “Huh?” 

Finally, the detective shouted “The prying eyes! There’s prying eyes and prying ears!”

Immediately Magnus and Merle were whispering. “Hey, shh! There’s prying ears everywhere, Angus!” 

“What’re you yelling about, kid, are you crazy?” 

Oh, this goof. Welp, that cinched it. “I am a hundred percent sure that the three of you don’t possess the competency required to perform multiple murders without getting caught by me already.”

Taako looked more impressed now than he had before. “He is a good detective.” 

“That’s pretty good.” Magnus agreed, and Angus had to fight not to roll his eyes that this was the thing that they agreed with.

Merle at least kept his attention on track. “Is that your way of saying we’re off the suspect list for being serial killers?”

“For now.” The detective confirmed. 

“Okay.”

Angus looked around and was surprised to see that they were all paying close attention to him. Even while laying out his suspicions, at least one- if not more or all- of the adventurers would be looking elsewhere or seeming uninterested. Now however, he had their complete attention. He had to utilize this moment. “But I will need you to help me catch and apprehend, which also means catch,” Oops, he’d already flubbed it, if Taako’s snickers were any indication. “The real Rockport Slayer who I know is somewhere aboard this—”

An ear splitting scream echoed through the train and into their car, making Angus’ hair stand on end as he jumped to his feet. “Oh no, we need to go check that out right now!”

“Wait!” Magnus called, and Angus paused with his hand on the doorknob, looking back to see what had made the man stop him. “Wait, ‘aboard this’ what? ‘Aboard this’ what?”

“Train.” Angus said flatly. 

“Okay, let’s go!” Magnus said brightly as he stood to follow Angus. 

“Oh, whew, okay.” Merle responded, and it didn’t sound quite as much like a goof as Magnus, which was concerning but not something he could worry about now. He would worry about it later, when there wasn’t a huge pool of blood seeping out from the bottom of the train car door, the bright scarlet contrasting brightly against the dull silver floor. 


	2. The Murder on the Rockport Limited Pt2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who read, gave kudos and commented!   
> You'll be able to start to see some of the canon divergence in this chapter, but next chapter is when it will really go off the rails.   
> Hope you like it!

Angus swallowed as he looked at the pool of blood that was leaking into the train car, stories of the Rockport Slayer running through his mind. “I don’t like the look of this one bit.”

“Alright. Well, you go first.” Magnus Volun-told him. 

Angus huffed out a laugh, “Okay. Sounds fair!” He didn’t mind going first, he did cases alone often enough.

Merle however, frowned. “That is not like you at all, Magnus.”

“Oh right! ‘Magnus rushes in!’, sorry, it’s been awhile since I got to rush anywhere.” 

Angus was still trying to parse what that even meant when the man suddenly ran forward, wrenching the door open as he rushed into the room. 

Merle smirked at Angus. “Look, kid, you did the detective work, we’ll do the heavy lifting, alright?”

The dwarf then sauntered proudly after Magnus, Taako following him. Angus rolled his eyes and brought up the end of their odd procession, taking in the room immediately as he entered. Two figures lay limp and collapsed in the walkway between the two carts, one drenched in blood and clearly dead (likely Jenkins according to the bowtie on his stump of a neck), and the other was Graham. Angus went to him first, ignoring the goofs the others made around the dead body. If Graham could be saved, he was the priority at the moment, it was clearly too late for headless-no-hands over there. 

Gosh that was insensitive, was he already spending too much time with these three?

Angus sighed in relief when he realized that the Wizard's pulse was strong, and he had no visible injuries. “He just fainted.” He called out to the adventurers. 

Ok, if Graham was okay for the moment, then it was time to to get back on the case. “Let’s look over the body as quick as we can before anybody else gets here.” He commanded, and surprisingly Merle jumped to the task. 

He shuffled over to join them, his eyes catching note of items of interest rapidly. The decapitating cut was remarkably clean, surprisingly so. The killer either used an incredibly sharp object, a magical weapon, or was very familiar with the weapon they used. That fit with the Rockport Killer MO, though the hands were new. What’s more, the hands were cut in an extremely different fashion, these cuts were slightly more clunky. Still likely the work of a pro, but they used a different weapon for this. There were also no signs of struggle. That was a little harder to spot without the hands- he couldn’t look for bruising- but the clothes were fairly clean and un-creased, which meant that the death had to have happened before the hands were removed. Furthermore, the port rod had been a very distinctive wand, which Angus could not see anywhere on the scene. As a wizard attendant, Jenkins had no reason not to keep his wand on him, so that was suspicious. Also, why were the hands gone? The engineer’s hands were necessary to open the safe, but the attendant’s hands shouldn’t be able to open it, so why take Jenkins’ hands? 

A small moan brought Angus’s attention back to the living, and he hurried to Graham’s side as Magnus called for him. Turning, Angus shuffled around until he was in a good position to help pick the wizard up. “We need to get Graham to a uh, a bed or something as quick as—” 

The child froze, his mouth going dry as he spotted a monster on the roof above them, crab-like eyes locked onto him. 

“Nobody move.” He said softly, barely daring to move his lips. 

Of course, that prompted Magnus to whirl around as though he was in some kind of elaborately flashy dance. “What?”

Instinctually, Angus moved, flicking out his crossbow from where he had hidden it up his sleeve -very grateful that the staff had never even considered checking a child for weapons- and shot at the beast. His bolt lodged into its shell, but it was clear that it did nothing more than annoy the beast.

He heard gasps as the others noticed the monster, but he barely paid attention as he gripped Graham under the armpits and began dragging him out of the car. “I’m gonna get this guy out of here, you three run!”

“No, wait, hold on. We got this! It’s cool!” Magnus proclaimed, but Taako was already moving, practically shoving the boy detective out of the way to get into the next car. Magnus apparently realized he had no weapons, and quickly followed.

Marle stood back a few seconds longer. “You guys are seriously going to run away? You don’t want to fight?”

Magnus and Taako immediately protested that they had no weapons, and the dwarf shrugged before reluctantly following, exiting the dangerous area with much less haste than the situation called for.

“Shut the door!” Angus yelled as soon as the third member of the trio was through. Hot air pushed at the door, leaking through the bottom of the frame until it could be felt where they cowered. “What’re you doing, I told you to run towards the back of the train! Sirs!”

“Well we wanted to, like, protect you.” Magnus protested, and seriously? Seriously? Did he really just-

Angus groaned in frustration. “I don’t need protecting! I need, uh, you know what a great thing to do to protect me would be—” As in to emphasize the child’s panicked and irritated yelling, the crab burst through the door, spitting fire and clearly ready to attack. “It would’ve been great if you had brought it in any other room, except for the room that we’re in now!”

The three men tried to argue their point, but Angus was having none of it. Seriously, who leads a monster to a child and an unconscious dude? It didn’t really matter now though, because Angus was still trying to drag the Juicy Wizzard away, and the other three were preparing to fight. He looked up as he carried the man to safety and gaped as Magnus knocked the now  _ floating  _ crab out of the train, and it somehow managed to grab back onto the train and drag itself back on. 

The three moved towards the back of the train immediately, following the beast to destroy it. Angus was left with the still-unconscious Graham, and a Jess the Beheader who was trying very hard to look like she wasn’t extremely interested in the blood, the unconscious man, and the giant fire crab that the other three passengers were fighting. She was mostly failing, which was good because if anyone could truly be uninteresting in something like this, he imagined their lives would be very dull indeed. 

He relayed what happened to the wrestler as he did what he could to make sure Graham’s airflow wasn’t restricted, and was gratified when after a few moments she downed the last of her drink, conjured her soul-bound axe, and ran down the length of the train to help. 

There’s a small First-Aid kit attached to one of the walls, and Angus moved to grab it, ignoring the sounds of battle behind him. Rummaging through the, fairly sparse, kit he found no healing potions or items, or even smelling salts. The kit was mostly full of bandages-Graham isn’t injured-, cold medicine- not relevant-, pain relievers - possibly useful-, and strangely some chocolate-shaped laxatives. He did manage to find a cold compress to apply to the man’s forehead, but otherwise wasn’t sure what he could do to help. Graham’s eyelids fluttered when the compress went on, but the man didn't wake up fully. 

With nothing else to do, the detective moved back to the assumed scene of the murder. It had been mostly destroyed from the crab and there was certainly no more evidence, but he was hoping that by being back in the place where it happened, he would remember something from the first time he saw the scene. The blood spray had been unusual, especially around the head. He was trying to see if any bloodstains had survived the scorching when the sound of a loud smack echoed through the room, and Graham yelled “What are you doing man, I was awake!” 

Welp, looked like the adventurers were back. Angus made his way back to the room in time to watch the most entertaining, if least effective Good-Cop-Bad-Cop routine he’d ever seen. Luckily, Graham wasn’t actually the killer and didn’t have anything to hide, so he answered their questions with reasonably little fuss. On his part at least. 

Jess gave her alibi as well before they got side tracked once more, this time over whether or not she would behead people when not on stage. Things really dissolved when Magnus dislocated Graham’s jaw, twice, but they left the others alone at that point so Angus didn’t bother to interfere. He isn’t sure there’s much he could have done if he had interfered, but for some strange reason they occasionally listened to him so he would have given it a shot. 

They go off to “interrogate” the conductor. Angus followed just long enough to hear the man’s voice and come to the conclusion that they wouldn’t actually get anything useful out of the exchange-that is to say, about 5 sentences in- and went back to finish observing the destroyed crime scene.He  _ would  _ figure out why there was no blood leading away from the scene from where it dripped from the hands and head as it was carried away. The answer was on the tip of his tongue. 

He was still deep in thought when the three men asked for everyone to empty their pockets. It was a good idea so he quickly complied, hoping that would encourage the other to do so as well. Jess didn’t, but Angus was quickly starting to realize that going with the flow was not in her wheelhouse. He didn’t particularly think that this was her anyway, it made no sense for her to cut the head and hands separately, and the axe-which she was idly flipping as though it was nothing but a fidget spinner- didn’t have a speck of blood on it besides the oddly-colored ichor of the crab thing. 

Graham had distressingly little in his pockets, and Angus only had his crossbow and other detective supplies. Merle started grumbling about how they were the only ones who had to give up their weapons, and Angus was arguing that his crossbow was very well concealed and that no one ever thought to check a little boy for weapons when Taako suddenly interrupted. 

“Hey, Angus.” 

Angus perked. “Hey! What’s up!”

The elf gestured at the detective kit still splayed out on the table. “You’re su— you’re like a great detective, I dunno why you’re letting the babysitter’s club here-” Was that a crack at his age? That didn’t even make sense. “-the three of us, like, trying to piece it together-”

“I’ve actually been watching you. You’ve been doing a surprisingly good job!” Angus chirruped. It was true,plus he was really enjoying watching them try to solve the case.

Taako laughed. “Thanks for the vote of confidence-”

“I’ve already figured it out, of course.” Angus interjected. And he had! After all, it couldn’t be any of these three, he had pretty much ruled out Jess and Graham, and the engineer hadn’t left the room. 

“Yeah, well, why don’t you give us a hint? A little hinteroo.” Taako needled. 

“Isn’t it more fun if you try and figure it out for yourself?” Since all of them were ruled out, that just left… hmm.

“No.” Taako answered.

“No.” Merle agreed.

That just left… hmm. Jenkins died, it wasn’t the engineer or any of the passengers… huh. Uh oh. Angus laughed nervously. “I’m pr- I was just kidding, I haven’t really figured it out yet, I was just, like, putting-” 

The three defleated, Taako mumbling ‘that’s what I thought, okay’, while Merle grumbled wordlessly.

He really had to stop being so braggy, it never turned out well for him. “—listen, I’m a 10-year-old— I’m a 10-year-old boy!” He had said that he was 10 earlier, right? He thought he had. 

Magnus was looking more and more skeptical. “Are you the world’s greatest detective… in comparison to your age? Is it a sliding scale thing?” 

Well no, he had bested adult detectives in the past, this case was just going so off the rails (ha, train pun), and for some reason even with these three ‘helping’, it was harder to think than normal. “I’m the best detective in the world, I’m very young, and I’m very, um… I’m, I’m very self-conscious about my age, so I…” 

“Great.” Magnus was clearly losing interest, and Angus chanced a bit of real honesty in order to keep the man’s attention. 

“I guess I put on a front. I- I’m glad that I have somebody to talk to about this!” He admitted sheepishly, but when he looked back at the fighter, he had already turned away. “Oh, okay, bye.” That was probably marginally less embarrassing than if the man had actually been paying attention.

Magnus interrogated Jess a little more, but Angus turned his attention back to the crime scene. Huh, that was interesting, there was some blood left on the door, but only one half of it. There hadn’t been as much blood as he would have expected originally, it should have been a verifiable puddle. He didn’t remember there being any blood puddles or skid marks to indicate the body had been moved, but there hadn’t been nearly enough, and there hadn’t been any on the opposite side of the door. Most of the blood had to have gone somewhere else, but where and how. Maybe-

The child was torn from his thoughts when Magnus called for him. Merle was coo-ing gently at some kind of robotic cockroach thing, and Taako was talking about business plans to sell 800 nearly identical scuttle buddies to a very uninterested Jess and confusing Graham. 

“Hey, we’re going to go check out the cargo hold, wanna tag along?” 

Angus felt a spark of joy. They were inviting him along, even after the mess up a few minutes ago. He scrambled to his feet. “Of course, sirs!” 

Something stirred in his mind as they walked to the cargo hold. Cargo hold, hands. Only Hudson’s hands could open the box, why were the corpse’s hands taken? He tore himself from his thoughts when he noticed that Merle was practically gripping his religious token, and Taako had his umbrella held like a wand during combat. Magnus was cracking his knuckles with a wildly excited look in his usually warm eyes. 

Angus had the startled realization that they may not intend to arrest the murderer. They were prepared as though going into battle. If they killed him, Angus would only get half the reward!

Also, killing people was wrong.

It was especially wrong when you were capable enough to arrest them. “Now listen, if we find the culprit in this room, you have to promise me that you’ll help me apprehend him. Don’t kill him. Or her. Whoever it is.”

“Ooh, that’s a big ask.” Magnus said doubtfully while Taako hissed. 

“We really wanna kill him.” Merle added. 

Magnus nodded. “We only know like, two things.” 

The dwarf quickly agreed. “Jumping away from fire and killing are the only two things we’re really good at.” They sounded distressingly sincere about that. 

“We don’t have our weapons, though, so it would come down to fisticuffs.” Taako interjected as the voice of reason, which was fairly consistent with the rest of the day, for all that he liked to project that he was an idiot. 

“That’s true.” Magnus conceded. 

“Beat a man to death with your bare hand.” Taako finished. Welp, so much for the voice of reason. Still, Angus persisted.

“I’ve found that not killing is pretty easy. I go long periods of time without killing anybody.”

Taako stopped and half-bent to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Hey, listen, we all have droughts, kid. Don’t feel bad.” 

That… was not what he had been expecting. “Okay.” That was… that was not them agreeing not to kill him. Honestly, it was much closer to the opposite. However, he knew how to pick his battles so he dropped it. He could always try and stop them later. He gestured at the door instead. “Breaching in three, two, one-” Because nothing about this case could be easy, Magnus interrupted to ask him to stop and check his book. It wasn’t really the best time, but the ‘pick your battles’ lesson was still firmly lodged in his mind and he was quickly learning that arguing with these three did nothing more than waste time. Somehow, it was hard to be upset by that when the arguments were so amusing. 

Case in point, once Angus has finished checking the book he asks ”Can I breach?” 

“Yeah. Yeah.” Merle said, as though Angus was the one being unreasonable. 

Magnus however responded with a nasal, high pitched “Can I breach?” Was that… was that what he thought Angus sounded like? 

“Can I breach please?” Angus insisted. 

Magnis continued mocking. “Excuse me.” Wais, was that what actually sounded like? That was something to worry about another day, Angus decided to ignore the man’s responses entirely.

“Are you all trained for SWAT hand signals?” He asked. 

“No,” Magnus replied, but Angus stuck to his resolve and continued. 

“And know about slicing the pie?”

“Yes,” Magnus replied. 

“Yeah,” Merle agreed. 

“Okay.” The detective said, feeling a rush of relief that faltered when Magnus added, ‘I’ve had pie’. However he once more chose to ignore it and went forward with the countdown and command to breach. Taako throws the door open and they enter like a well-oiled team despite the teasing. Angus has his weapon held ready in the air. Taako holds his umbrella high, which isn’t especially imposing but it’s but it’s slightly better than Magnus and Merle’s fisticuffs. Still, the speed and efficiency with which they enter the car and spread into strategic positions would intimidate anyone. 

That is, it would have if anyone had been in the room. 

The safe appears untouched, Angus felt a rush of relief that his silverware was safe. Even if it wasn’t the goal of the killer, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t take it if it was there. The boy detective quickly scurried to survey the room, trying to see if there were any clues or evidence that showed that someone had entered the room recently. Taako moved over to the safe and started kinda tugging on it and feeling along the seems to see if it had been forced open. Merle had just kinda stopped in the middle of the room and was poking at his ear with an irritated look on his face. 

The rest of the room appeared untouched as well, so Angus joined Taako at the safe and started dusting for prints. Oddly he’s not finding much. Which was weird, no one wearing gloves could open the safe. It was almost like it had been wiped down, which was odd. He was still deep in the ‘detective’ zone when Taako started talking. 

“So here’s— this is interesting. You know this, this counters, sort of, what I was thinking because, y’know, Jenkins’s hands were missing, right? And the rule of the safe is that you have the employee of the Rockport Express— have to have their hands on the safe for an hour. And his hands were missing. So I thought, maybe someone had taken his hands so they could put them on the safe. But there i— are no hands on the safe.

Still deep in thought, Angus glanced at the wizzard. “Yes, I had the same suspicion a while ago—”

Magnus speaks up from where he’s idly wandering around the room, the same mocking voice from earlier. “Stupid!” Oh no, that really was what he sounded like to them. 

The teasing brought Angus out of his head and he decided to run with the goof. “in fact a really long-” 

“Way to catch up!” Magnus practically yelled, and Angus was smiling as he dragged out the joke. 

“—like basically from the start, I had that suspicion. The only issue is that it’s not just any employee, it has to be the engineer of the train. Who’s locked away in the engine car.”

“How do you open the engine car?” The human asked, a thoughtful look on his face. 

“You don’t. The engineer is the only one that can get in there.”

“Unless you have the wand.” Magnus added. Which… huh. That was an interesting concept. 

Taako picked up on the thread of thought almost immediately. “Unless you have the wand— Jenkins’s wand, right? Jenkins’s wand would let you go into any area. So, that would be the only way— if it was the pleasure chamber—” 

Angus straightened. That didn’t seem quite right, there were issues with transportation magics when going to rooms with other people, but speaking of pleasure chambers… Angus turned to Taako, heart beating fast as pieces slid into place. “I- I noticed something very suspicious about this room. And I’m wondering if you can help me confirm my suspicion. Can one of you try and open the rear door? The caboose door? For the train, please.” 

Taako shrugged and sauntered to the door, pulling on the handle with his body posed as though he were planning to open it with a flourish, but it doesn’t so much as budge. 

“Oh, I got it!” Magnus yelled, running across the room and punching the door before Angus could say anything. Nothing happens. Taako makes the vague motions of spellcasting and his umbrella begins to glow- oohh, it’s a wand, that makes so much more sense. After a beat of silence the elve’s ears shoot back at he looks around the room with wide eyes. “Bad news compadres, this place is crazy magic. Like, all magic everywhere, and then some kinda ooky-spooky ghost sound? I don’t know what the deal there is.” 

Merle stepped forward at the elf’s words, the relic held high as he cast a spell as well. “Huh.” The elf muttered, running a finger over the extreme teen’s bible’s binding. “It’s… Jenkin’s rod isn’t here.”

All of these points were confirming his horrifying theory over and over again. However, before he could say anything Magnus suddenly raised his hand as thought waiting to get called on in class. “Ooh, I have a theory. What if like, if the ghost sound that we’re hearing is the sound, like, to make it seem like the train is moving. And where we are— we’ve been transported to a fake location. That is not the actual crypt safe on the train.” Wow that was… actually that was exactly what Angus was thinking- what he was afraid of. 

“If that’s correct then this is a very unsafe room for us to be in. And I- I recommend that we move back to the dining car.” He said.

“I agree. Let’s do that.” Magnus nodded. 

Merle looked to the elf of the group. “So, Taako, usually, when we retreat, you lead the force.

“Peace and carrots, you guys, I’m out.” Taako said, speed walking out of the car. “I’m already out. Look at me I’ve got— look at the back of me in the back of the car. I’m gone-zo.” 

For some reason, it is only then that the other three sprint out of the highly dangerous room. 

Angus grinned when the door was shut firmly behind him. All the pieces were here now. He could feel it in his bones. “It’s time to crack this thing wide open!” He could see it all now, the answers slotting in place almost physically in front of his eyes. He was about to begin his favorite part of being a detective, the thrill of laying out the solution, the prestige of it.

He wondered if he looked as proud as Magnus had when he’d discovered that the room had been a portal. His smile faltered somewhat, remembering the human’s excitement as he pieced together that the room was false, Taako’s careful consideration about why the hands had been taken. He’d never really shared the spotlight with those who worked for in the past, not willingly at least. But… but he really liked these guys. 

Angus cast the three adventurers a shy smile. “Do you guys, uh, do you guys want to take a stab at this first? I’ve done this a lot and it’s really exhilarating and I’d love, uh, I’d love for one of you to share this, y’know, parlor scene experience. If uh, if we have any takers.”

They perked up at that. A part of Angus was worried that this would take time they don’t have, but there was a lot of time before the train was scheduled to make it to the city, and he was… he was actually really excited to share something that he loved so much with these men.

“Okay.” Magnus said. “So, let me… Think.”

“I mean I’ve already gotten everybody sorta like— horny for the solution.” The child replied, payback for the older human’s teasing earlier. The trio start laying out theories and ideas, and it was honestly fascinating to listen to them come to the conclusion, working together to come to the solution, each member contributing. Angus nudged them along, showing them that they were correct about the crypt being a false room, prompting them through the murder (he was a little worried when they didn’t immediately know the cause of death for the decapitated corpse, but he could cut them some slack on their first case) as they connected all the dots. 

Merle realized that the head was separated from the body using the pleasure chamber and that the body wasn’t Jenkins. Magnus made the connection that Jenkins must be the killer. Taako, in what he calls a ‘rare moment of lucidity’ lays it out and puts the pieces together. 

There were side tracks, diversions, and rabbit trails, but with a little prompting everything was laid out. The last piece of the puzzle fell into place as Magnus realized that the corpse had been carried in the drink cart. 

Angus grinned, his cheeks hurting from the extent of his smile. “In the drink cart! Eureka! Bazinga!”

“Shut up!” Magnus said with a laugh, though he seemed just as excited as the boy. “You already knew the answer Angus, I don’t need-I don’t need your pity!”

“No! I’m just, I’m very proud of the three of you. You’ve been much more competent than anybody on earth would have ever thought.”

“Oh th- thank you!” Taako said.

Merle quickly added, “Well, wait til you get to know us.”

“Yeah, we, we blew up a whole city once.”

Merle shushed the elf, as Angus blinked at them blankly. Well, we don’t have time to unpack all of that right now. He had to whisper this next part, so he motioned for Magnus and Taako to bend down. Merle didn’t have to.

“What I don’t understand is, if Jenkins was also the killer of Leeman Kessler, how does he know about this item that I can’t hear and apparently nobody seems to know about except the three of you?”

The response ends up being just a bunch of static-ed out words exchanged between the three adults, Angus only able to catch a few words. Eventually they seem to come to a conclusion that Angus can’t know. The detective has to fight off a stab of negative emotion at that. It isn’t like he isn’t hiding things. Besides, no matter how curious he was, it wasn’t any of his business.

He hated when things weren’t any of his business.

Still, the important point for him was that they get Jenkins into custody, or dead, before they hit Neverwinter. The boy attempted to pull the attention back to that point. “The really tricky part is how we’re gonna be able to get to Jenkins before we arrive in Neverwinter.” Suddenly remembering that they had a Rockport Limited expert on the train, the boy pointed at Graham. “Graham, how long do we have? Until we arrive?”

“Uh, about 25 minutes!” The wizard replied, and Angus’s heart dropped to his feet.

“We don’t have much time!”

“About 25 minutes, yeah, we- we just heard him.” Magnus mocked. Back to these kinds of goofs, huh?

What followed was the most buck wild planning session Angus had ever been a part of. Magnus wanted to try to disrupt the magic of the pleasure chamber by bringing something back (Physically impossible), Merle makes it clear that he intends to disrupt the magic via murder (morally not great, but Angus got it), Magnus wants to try punching… the train (they even ask how sturdy the train is, which Angus replies that it is about ‘train level’, but Magnus seems to think almost anything could be solve via a good punch), and then Taako suggested something even crazier.

As they make the plan Angus keeps expecting someone, maybe one of the other two adults on the train, to argue or come up with a better solution, but no one does. So, it is somehow decided that Magnus is going to levitate out of the train, and try to somehow get to the caboose so that he can single-handedly try to take on Jenkins. The adventurers still seem convinced that he’s a terrible wizard, but Angus can only remember the crime scenes he’d investigated, the precision and perfection of the scenes. No one who was capable of that could be that bad of a wizard, even if they were a little stingy with their spell slots. Graham details the timeline and gives Magnus some kind of weight-gaining bean, and Taako casts levitate, and Magnus is out the window while Angus is still waiting for someone to come up with a real plan. Somehow though… even though it makes no sense, even though the three had shown little to no competence, even though they treated everything as a joke and were complete strangers… somehow Angus didn’t have a single doubt that they would succeed.

And, amazingly they did!

The boy is openly gaping when the open door to the vault fades to be replaced with the actual vault, revealing Magnus, Jenkins, and two horrific monsters. The crypt was open, treasures scattered along the ground of the cart. Angus’s heart jumped when he saw silverware sitting amid the pile, but his attention was quickly drawn to the battle. With his crossbow in hand, the boy took a step forward to help, but was pulled back by a startled looking Graham.

“I think they’re doing a, uh, a pretty decent job in there so maybe we can just kinda… stick back here. I’m not sure that crossbow will be especially, uh, especially helpful.”

Angus was about to argue, but before he could Magnus started mocking the serial killer controlling the meat monsters. Angus had to bite his lip to keep from giggling as the other two joined in. They mocked the man’s name, his voice, and his wizarding prowess in between blows.

Well, at least they were consistent.

The battle doesn’t actually last too long, or seem to be too serious. It turned out that the three adventurers were much more accurate about Jenkin’s power level than Angus was, and the man actually gets thrown out of the train by his own meat monster, a monster that Merle destroys less than a moment later.

Then, they were left with two less passengers, a transporting rod no one knew how to use, and no hands to get into the engine room. Maybe the battle wasn’t over yet. 

Angus burst into the room along with Jess and Graham as the ash drifted to the floor. Jess had her awe hefted and yelled “Let’s get busy!” As if she hadn’t just watched the entire battle from inside the diner car. 

Taako immediately turned to Magnus and Merle. “And that’s my entire plan for how we stop the train.” He said, as though the other three hadn’t just watched the entire battle from inside the diner car. 

Just as a goof, Angus looked up to Taako with wide, innocent eyes. “Can you uh, can you start over from the beginning?” Taako tried to insist that Angus tell his plan so that they compare, but the child detective just rolled his eyes and got on his tiptoes to whisper “I think we should probably find that item you guys were looking for first. Before anybody else can get their hands on it.”

The elf leaned down to pick a compass off of the ground. “Okay.” His umbrella lit up as he cast a spell. 

“What is that? What have you got there?”

The wizard shook the compass. The needle flailed for a bit before settling back down. “I think it’s a compass but not pointing any specific direction. I thought I’d know more about it, but I don’t. And I… it’s trying…It’s a dowsing thing.”

The child perked, the small bit of information answering so many questions about how the killer knew what items and individuals to target. The detective pointed out that it could be used to find the static-object, and stood back to watch as they collected their weapons. Merle and Taako were deep in conversation, but the majority of their words were static, and his head hurt as he tried to listen to them, so he blocked them out, instead eyeing the pile of goods from the safe.

His silverware was there, tied up in a bundle of twine as always and sitting near the top of the pile. The boy attempted to quickly rush in to grab the bundle, but Magnus stepped in front of him deftly with a masterful bit of dexterity. 

“Nothing to see here folks, nothing to see. Move it along now, move it along.” 

“B-but I just want to grab-” He leaned around the man and caught a glimpse of Merle and Taako arguing with what looked like a monocle. It looked like a very nice monocle too. Despite the fact that he would be near blind without his glasses, Angus had a surprisingly strong desire to try it on, just to see what it looked like, what it felt like, what it could do. Magnus quickly sidestepped to block his view. 

“Nuh-uh. Nope Angus, you aren’t getting any closer to that thing. Mysterious powers and bla bla bla.” 

Angus looked up at the man, prepared to argue, but stopped when the bright light burst into the room via the still-open caboose door before it grew dark again. That meant that they had passed into one of the last mountains and they needed a plan  _ now _ . Suddenly Taako’s umbrella-wand inverted, and in a move that stunned everyone on the train - including Magnus, Merle, and Taako oddly enough - seemed to  _ eat  _ Jenkin’s discarded wand. For several beats everyone just kinda stared at the umbrella, too stunned to speak. 

Angus was the first to shake it off. “I’m really glad that everything’s working out for you. A wand got eaten by another staff, it was really cool and you did a thing with a monocle and all that’s great. But Graham, what are we, what are we looking at now?”

“We’ve got about uh, seven minutes before we arrive at Neverwinter and if we don’t start slowing down now it’s gonna be real bad.” 

Angus felt a cold burst of fear at the Juicy Wizzards words. Seven minutes and no way to get into the engine room. This was, this was horrible. 

Taako ran forward to grab Jenkin’s Port Wand from where it had rolled into the corner. He scrutinized it for a moment before shouting “Everybody out!” The group scrambled to obey as the wizard continued. He commanded everyone to run towards the engineer’s room and to imagine what it looked like, ordering them to focus on the mental image. It was a little difficult as no one had been in the engineer’s room, but Angus closed his mind and imagined what he thought it looked like with all of the imagination that his vastly intelligent mind could conjure. 

Strangely, Taako turned around after a moment and cast the spell towards the caboose instead of the direction that everyone was facing, but Angus doesn’t have much time to dwell on that as the wizard's first attempt fails. Graham groaned as they passed through into the last mountain “We’re in the final— we’re in the final stretch, we’ve got about four minutes before we hit Neverwinter, you gotta do something quick.”

This time a beautiful web of silvery light emerged from the rod as Taako cast the spell, and the engineer’s car came into focus with startling clarity. There was a mad scramble for the car, and a brief scramble over who will drive (Magnus yelled that he had ‘vehicle proficiency’ which was the weirdest way to say he could drive well that Angus had ever heard) which Graham won since he had been training to be an engineer all his life using video james.

The Juicy Wizard moved to pull the break, but to Angus’s horror it refused to budge. Proving that he had in fact been training for this, the man immediately moved to the switchboard, pushing buttons and twisting knobs until he stopped with a curse. “Guys this one is also locked to the engineer’s handprint. Did anybody save one of those meat monsters’ hands?”

The three looked at each other, seeming sheepish for the first time since Angus had met them. 

“...no.” Magnus said. Merle offered the option of disconnecting the engine from the rest of the train, but Graham shot it down almost immediately. 

The anxiety and fear that had been building in Angus since he realized that the engineer was not in the engine room finally bubbled out, his horror plain in his voice. “I— I’m too young to die. Oh, pan, no this is gonna be terrible. What can we do?” He had survived so much. He had lived through the streets, followed serial killers, thieves and necromancy, braved winters and storms and starvation and through it all he’d made it through with wit and luck. He had a survival instinct that had been sharply honed, and it was screaming at him, furious that the boy had allowed himself to get into a situation that he couldn’t deduce his way out of. 

Graham’s eyes were blown wide with the same fear that Angus had voiced. “We— we’re not gonna be able to stop this train. We— we have to destroy it somehow. There’s a— there’s an entry gate into Neverwinter that you have to go through before you arrive at the platform.”

Taako’s ear’s shot up. “Wait a minute! I got it I got it, I got it. I got it. Okay. Listen: This is stupid. Are you ready to do something really stupid?” 

Magnus nodded. “Magnus rushes in.”

Graham agreed “I’m willing to do anything, we have about two and a half minutes!”

“Again, have you just met us?” Merle asked mock-incredulously. 

Angus felt a flush of relief, though he found himself unable to speak, instead he simply nodded so rapidly and emphatically that his neck ached. Without another word Taako walked rapidly out of the engineer’s room and to the passenger car, quickly opening the door and leaning out. 

He glanced at the gate, now in view as the train barreled forward, and nodded. “I- we’ve got this. You just have to trust me.” He said to the crowd of train passengers bundled behind him. 

Magnus put his hand on the elf’s shoulder. “I trust you.”

“Oh— Excellent.”

Merle put his hand on the elf’s hip. “That’s as high as I can reach.”

Angus bounced on his toes as the earth flew by the train windows. They were already starting to see some of the further-out houses. “Really great goofs sir, but we’re gonna hit the gate in one minute.”

“Be cool Angus, for one second!” Magnus yelled back, as though  _ Angus  _ was the one being unreasonable. “This is a teambuilding moment. Taako can you like, make us lighter so we’re floating or something?”

“I don’t have enough levitates to do that. I can’t levitate all of us. You know what? You know what? We’re just. Let’s just jump. How bout that?

“Yeah!” The dwarf adventurer agreed. 

“Yup,” The elf blustered, though his ears were pressed back. “Let’s just jump off a moving train. Everybody off! Everybody jump, I’ll wait til I’m closer since I’m casting the spell.” 

Angus looked out, they were speeding past the railyard, an open plain. It still did not look like anywhere Angus wanted to land at this speed. He leaned out next to Taako. “Are you sure about this? It seems like it’s gonna hurt a lot, sir.” 

Then, the man  _ pushed Angus off of the speeding train. _ Angus yelped as he flew through the air, the impact jarring as he landed. He rolled several yards, the world rushing past in an array of greens, greys and browns. At one point he hit his face against a rock, but eventually he stopped. He was bruised and shaken, and the taste of blood flooded his mouth from two spots where teeth had fallen out, but he was 75% sure they were baby teeth. The boy sent the still-speeding train a smile and thumbs up. He ran his tongue along his teeth, 65% sure they were baby teeth. 

For a moment, Angus allowed himself to just sit and catch his breath, process the wild ride he had just gone on. The rest of the passengers jump off as well. Magnus horrifyingly doesn’t get up after he falls. Jess is very cool and actually managed to land on her feet, though Graham is pushed off much like Angus. 

By the time Merle and Taako jump out, Merle falling but not rolling like Angus and Taako landing as cleanly as Jess, Angus had caught his breath and was running forward to see if Magnus was okay. He wished he had swiped the first aid kit at some point, but by that point the train was half through the portal and no doubt destroying some posies. 

Merle and Taako make their way over to Magnus, who groaned as he sat up. Angus scrambled to help the man sit up, and ended up being used as something of a backrest. The human man grinned at his companions. “Can I just say you guys, way more successful than our last one. We didn’t destroy a city or anything.” 

Angus no longer thought they were kidding about destroying a city. In fact, he was almost certain that it was an actual thing that had really happened. 

“Except for the garden!” Merle added, and Magnus groaned.

“Ugh, Wankins’s garden. I don’t care about that dude.” 

Suddenly Taako clasped his hands over his mouth in theatrical surprise. “And— oh, everybody, I just remembered something terrible!” 

Magnus looked at the man in concern. “What’s that?”

“We forgot to get the valuables off! Before we did that. Out of the safe.”

“Oh no.” Angus felt his heart fall to his feet, he stepped around Magnus towards the gate, as though he could follow the train. The fighter flailed at losing his backrest, but Angus couldn’t think about it. He’d just, he’d just lost his silverware, his way to make money when times were tough, the one thing he’d had when he was given to the orphanage, the only thing connecting him to his past. “ Oh no! I was transporting my” He remembered quickly his lame earlier excuse, and though they no longer thought he was an innocent passenger, he was not interested in letting them know the whole truth. “my grandpa’s favorite silverware! I was gonna give it to him as a death-day present!” 

Merle didn’t seem to care, but Magnus attempted to comfort him. “He’ll be happy you’re alive, Angus. That’s present enough.” Somehow, Magnus  _ still  _ thought that he was actually visiting his grandpa. 

The boy was shaking, tears threatening, but Magnus’s unwavering belief in his lies made him want to continue to goof, despite his despair. “No, he said specifically, ‘Bring me my— bring me my silverware. I’d like to see it  _ one _ more time on my deathbed.’”

“Well, maybe you’ll get lucky and he’ll be dead before you get there!” Magnus offered, and Angus suddenly didn’t have the energy to continue the ruse. His grandpa probably was dead, whoever he was.

“We can only hope.” He could remember it happening, could see it in his mind’s eye. The silverware had been right there, only feet away, but he had been distracted by monocle, then Taako had insisted that they all close their eyes and imagine the engineer’s car, and he hadn’t even looked after Taako had opened the port on the caboose door and… huh. The silverware had been there, Taako was there, then they had all turned around and closed their eyes to help with the spell, but Taako hadn’t seemed to need any kind of group imagining any other time. In fact, he had cast the spell the opposite direction of where they were facing. Then Angus hadn’t seen them on his way back through. There was nothing Angus valued more in the world, if he had even seen it from the corner of his eye he would have stopped to grab it. They had run through the room twice, he would have noticed it at least once. That meant-

The boy was drawn out of his deduction when the Neverwinter militia ran up to them, confused and holding weapons. Luckily, several of the officers on duty were familiar. Angus pulled a badge out of his vest and brandished it. “It’s okay, they’re with me.” He heard Taako snort behind him, but focussed on explaining the situation to the officers. The conversation took a while, which makes sense as it was a completely buckwild situation, but eventually he gives the men enough of the bare bones situation that they know how to proceed. He promised to come to the station immediately to file an official report and collect his, significantly diminished, reward. 

Luckily, the three adventurers were just finishing talking to Graham as he got to the end of his report. Angus fingered the compass in his pocket. Taako had dropped it when he’d gone from the engineer’s room to the passenger car and Angus had picked it up. Time to see if his deduction was correct. 

The three were goofing once more, and he doesn’t have to fake a wide smile as he approaches. “I gotta say, you guys, I’m really proud of you. I— This was one of the toughest mysteries that I’ve ever solved and, I—”

“Well… Wait, hold on, I’d say we solved this one together.” Magnus protested. 

Merle snorted. “WHOAAA, I’d say we solved it alone, without you.” Well they had solved it, that was true, but not without a whole lot of prompting. That didn’t matter though, not really. Angus was getting the militia reward regardless, they had gotten their thing. 

“Well, that seems… mean, I’m trying to like, do a heartfelt goodbye speech.” He argued, before smiling again, a little faker but still about 80% genuine. “I want you guys to have something, ‘cause I was gonna take it back to the station, because it shouldn’t fall into unsafe hands but you guys seem like you’ll be able to take care of it, and maybe you’ll get a lot of use out of it.”

He pulled the compass out of his pocket and handed it to Merle, his own sort of peace offering that the dwarf would no doubt ignore. The cleric immediately opened the compass and it honed in on Taako’s bag without wavering. 

Taako threw up his hands defensively, “I have- I have the monocle in there.” 

That seems to settle the other two, but Angus narrowed his eyes as his suspicions were confirmed. On the train, he’d seen the needle spinning, moving to and fro as it gauged the value of all of the objects before finally settling on the monocle. This time, despite the jewelry and wealth of some of the surrounding rubberneckers, the needle hadn’t wavered. Taako had more than just the monocle in there, and he didn’t want them to know. 

“Oh, actually, Mr.Taako I have one more thing to tell you, but it’s a secret.” 

“Oh come on Angus,” Magnus said. “Anything you want to say to him, you can say to me.” 

“We’re kinda a packaged deal.” Merle said, buffing his nails. 

“Grooserooni,” Taako stuck out his tongue, “I don’t want to be associated with all that.” And he sauntered a few feet away to allow Angus and him some privacy. The other two didn’t actually seem interested in Angus and started arguing about chips of all things. 

“I would like my silverware now please, sir.”

“I uh, I don’t know what you’re talking about kid. Your grandpa’s silverware was lost on the train. I uh, may have managed to grab you a spoon or something, but-” 

“I know that you didn’t get the best example of my detective work, sir, but I assure you that I have earned my title as World’s Best Detective. I can say with 100% certainty that you have my “grandpa’s’ silverware, and if I show up without it, he’s gonna get angry.” 

“That was a weird emphasis on the grandpa, kid.” 

Angus looked at the elf flatly, not impressed at his attempt to distract him. “I am still a very little boy, sir. And I can yell and yell and yell, and even if the Militia here  _ didn’t  _ know me well, I’m sure that you don’t want your teammates to hear about what you have.” 

“Alright kid, sheesh. Don’t blow a gasket, I just took it for the lolz anyway.” The elf pulled the silverware out of his bag. 

“Sure you did sir.” Angus said brightly as he clutched the bundle to his chest. He took a deep, shuddering breath. “Thank you.” He said earnestly. 

“Yeah yeah, keep your mushy feelings over there. Don’t want to get that crap on me.” 

“Oh! I overheard Merle and Magnus and I have one more gift for you.” He dug around in his bag as he placed the silverware in it safely. He’d grabbed a personal sized can of pringles from the snack cart, intending to expense it, but well… the train was gone, it wasn’t like he was going to get a bill. Even with the blackmail, it was very nice of Taako to give him back the silverware, he could afford to lose one small can of snacks. “They’re yours if— they’re yours if you want ‘em. I was gonna have ‘em as a traintime snack, but I forgot to eat ‘em in the train times.” The elf seems bemused when he takes the can, and Angus is relieved to see that he doesn’t seem at all angry. Despite it all, he still  _ really  _ liked these guys, and he wanted them to like him too.

As a final goodbye, the child reached into a pocket to pull out a card that reads ‘Angus- World’s Greatest detective’. “If you, if you guys ever run into any mysteries that you can’t solve, uh, just drop me a line, and I’ll be there in a flash!” 

Taako read through the card as he walked back to his companions. Merle was trying to help Magnus walk to a healing center, which mostly consisted of Merle grabbing the man’s wrist and trying with all of his weight to pull the human, but Magnus wasn’t budging from where he lay limp and complaining. “Yeah yeah, I’ll look for you on chain linkedin.”

Angus grinned at the bickering adventurers as he made his way to the Neverwinter Militia station. Time to fill out that report, and then his next mystery. The Goldcliffe militia had been asking him to look into a thief that had been causing trouble, that could be fun.


	3. Petals to the medal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is where I am starting to split a bit from Canon. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Also, I will be trying to respond to comments from now on, so please let me know what you think!!
> 
> TW: This follows the Petals to the Medal arch, so it discusses Klarg's brainwashing and his treatment by the hammerheads.

Angus was nearly silent as he ducked down beside the humanoid figure. He was lucky that the bugbear’s substantial size kept the small boy completely hidden from the leader of the Hammerheads. The captive growled at him lowly, and the young boy gulped before risking putting a comforting hand on the bugbear’s arm. The figure winced at the contact, and Angus felt a rush of shame. Of course he shouldn’t have tried to touch the bugbear, not when he had been so poorly treated by the rest of the hammerheads, not when the bugbear had no reason to see him as anything different than the others who shared his uniform. Still, the non-violent touch surprised the humanoid enough that he stopped growling before it drew the attention of any of the others.

“I’m very sorry Mr.Bugbear, sir.” Angus whispered softly, trusting the species’s superior hearing to be able to pick up things that a normal human couldn’t. “My name is Angus, I’m a detective and I'm here to help. I’m going to get you out of here.”

After a moment of silence the bugbear nodded and Angus began working on picking the locks to his manacles. “I don’t think it would be smart of you to try and fight your way out. There are a lot of them, and there are weapons all over this place. I’m going to go into the other garage and- and make a diversion. Hopefully, it should be enough to get most of them out of the room so that you can escape. If everything goes right, I should be able to sneak in right after you hear a loud noise. If I don’t come back right away then… then I’ve been caught, and fighting might be your best bet.” He locked gazes with the eyes peeking through the eye slits in the mask until the bugbear nodded."The cuffs are unlocked, as soon as you're ready, you should be able to just shake them off without problem."

Angus took a deep breath. Okay, he was doing this. Initially he’d been hired by the Goldcliff Militia to help track down a thief that had been bothering them for a few years, and had recently been escalating their heists. It had been an intriguing case, and the fact that they wore a raven mask to steal and also raced in the battle cart competitions gave the case just enough melodrama to  really  pique his interest.

It also had helped that goldcliff was practically swimming in money and always paid well. 

When he’d arrived, it was to see that the thief had somehow  covered the bank in evil vines,  so he and Captain Captain Bane had quickly agreed that his talents would probably be better used elsewhere.

‘Elsewhere’ ended up being in the hideout of one of the many gangs that participated in the battle wagon races. Mostly the Goldcliff Militia turned a blind eye on the technically illegal races, but the Hammerheads were known to take things too far. They used advanced weaponry, stole materials for their wagons, blackmailed, and had a reputation of purposely targeting and attempting to kill opponents rather than just get them out of the race. A few moments after being granted access to their hideout, Angus had added ‘humanoid trafficking’ to their ever-growing list of offenses.

Also tax evasion, though that was much less pressing.

He’d immediately contacted Captain Captain Bane, but the man had seemed… off. He was distracted, and had made some weak claim about wanting to wait until the race so that they could catch them in the act. Angus was furious, both that the man was so cavalier about the bugbear’s plight, and at being shrugged off so completely.

He was also worried. Captain Captain Bane was usually one of his favorite Captains to work with. The man had seemed honorable every other time they'd met. Something… something was very wrong with him.

That was a mystery for when the poor bugbear was safe though.

The boy made his way through the garage, nodding at the Hammerheads, his uniform marking him as someone who belonged. The Captain had just suggested he snoop around to get evidence, but it was frighteningly easy for Angus to “join”. He didn’t even have to pay the ridiculous entrance fee they were asking. He didn’t even have to lie about being a detective. He didn’t even- the point was, it was really easy.

He'd claimed that he was a fan of the Hammerheads and had been watching the races for years-the first part was a lie, the second admittedly was not- and had promised to give them all of the secrets his natural detective nature had picked up.

Once he had established that, for all their crimes and cons, the Hammerheads were gullible idiots- with the exception of Barbara, but Barbara was usually tasked with guarding the entrance so Angus didn’t have to worry about him too much- he started adding blatant lies and deceptions to his information. He supported all of his falsehoods of course, but a good 60% of his advice was utterly useless with 30% being actively damaging to the gang. There was some actually useful stuff thrown in to lend credibility, but it was so entrenched with lies that Angus doubted even that bit would be of much help.

Of course no one had been the wiser, they had simply given him one of Little Jerry’s old uniforms and made him a member. Marvey in particular seemed to like him, called Angus his protégé which… no. Just no. It did make sneaking around the building easier, though.

The nickname of ‘Mini-Marv’ he could do without. 

Almost everyone was sleeping early or in the main garage doing some last minute repairs to some of the machinery, leaving the garage with the racing wagon completely empty.

It didn’t take long to contrive a simple trap. The Hammerheads saved space by hanging platforms from the ceilings of the garages and using them for storage. It took only a moment of paying with the pulleys to position a platform covered in paints and dyes over the top of the tank.

Angus knew himself well enough to know that he didn’t mind indulging in a tiny bit of pettiness now and then, just as he allowed himself some sass when the situation called for it. In addition to creating enough noise to send almost everyone into this garage, the Hammerheads would either have to go to the race in a garishly ugly tank, or stay up the night cleaning it off and risk going to the race exhausted. Either way, it was a victory for Angus. Positioning himself near the open door, Angus aimed his crossbow bolt at the rope holding the platform. It would take a masterful shot, but Angus was very good with his crossbow.

He had to be. He would have been long dead otherwise.

He aimed, then terrifyingly heard a voice right outside. “Hey, that door is open now! Are you sure it wasn’t dogs? Wait, is that-“

He shot immediately, determined to give a distraction even if he got caught, but the shot went wide when someone grabbed him. The child struggled, small fists punching at the Hammerhead uniform and legs flailing.

“That’s my dude!” A voice said, a voice so confusingly familiar that Angus stopped fighting to actually see who grabbed him.

“Sir?” He asked, surprised once he recognized the figure in the uniform.

“Aw no, not him again.” Merle grumbled, side eyeing Angus mistrustfully.

Taako laughed, “Angus, this is embarrassing, I thought— if you put a gun to my head I would’a sworn you died.”

That was an odd thing to say, not to mention rude, but odd and rude was pretty must these three’s MO. “Uh, no sir. I am very much alive! You did throw me off of a train though, maybe that’s why you thought that.”

The elf hummed non-committedly. “No, I don’t think that’s it.”

“What are you doing here?” Magnus asked, then suddenly seemed to recognize Angus’s outfit as the exact same uniform he was wearing. “Angus are you in a  gang ?”

Angus chose not to point out the hypocrisy in that statement, didn’t even look at the fighter’s clothing pointedly. He considered that a sign of personal growth. “No Sir, I was hired by Captain Captain Bane to investigate the Hammerheads. I’m undercover.”

“Well how 'bout that, my man.” Taako said lazily. “So are we.”

“Well, we’re less undercover and more, in disguise to steal a thing. Oceans, uh,” He seemed to wait a moment to count, “three style. ”

“That,” Taako said, pointing at the dwarf. “That is a thing that is accurate.”

“Well yeah,” Magnus said. “But they’re the bad guys. Especially if Ango is here, then they’re definitely the bad guys, so its like, not a  really  a big deal to steal from them. And, we promised not to kill anyone.”

“Ango? Is that, is that going to be a thing now?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah!”

“I thought we already broke that promise.” Merle said in confusion, bearded face scrunched in thought.

Taako groaned. “Yeah, but Angus didn’t need to know that part.”

“Nah, Ango’s cool. He’s no Tattletale, right kid?”

“Of course not, sir.” Angus couldn’t help grinning, remembering why he had liked working with the strange men so much. “I am aware that snitches get stitches.” He said, despite being a detective who had snitched many, many times in the past.

He had the stitches to prove it.

“All right,” Taako said with a grin. “Rhyme: helping baby’s learn since, I don’t know since people figured out that words could sound the same.”

Angus laughed, feeling more relaxed than he had since putting on Little Jerry’s old uniform. That was, until Magnus rushed into the garage, coming back a moment later with Angus’ crossbow bolt. “Sorry for throwing off your aim I guess. What were you shooting at anyway?”

Suddenly Angus gasped, remembering the Bugbear that was waiting for him to cause a distraction. “I-I have to, I was going to make a distraction so I could-“

“A distraction?” Magnus nearly yelled. “Here? In a fenced area, in a room with only one entrance?”

“I had a plan, sir.” Angus insisted.

Magnus looked like he was going to argue, but before he could Taako cut in. “Sure thing pumpkin but, uh, see we have a plan too. And our plan involved a lot of wearing uniforms and being sneaky. It does not so much include redecorating their garage, even if they desperately need it.”

“We had a montage and everything.” Merle added and Angus… wasn’t sure what to do with that so he ignored it.

“Your plan to commit larceny, you mean?”

“That’s the one.” Taako winked.

“From the bad guys.” Magnus insisted.

“Well I am sorry sirs, but someone needs my help, so I think my plan is a little more pressing." He turned back and began sighting his bolt, hoping that the Bugbear had waited, hadn’t already started trying to fight his way out.

Merle grumbled behind him. “Why are we even discussing this? He’s a little kid. Magnus, punt him over the wall.”

“I’m not going to do that!” Magnus yelled, but something in his tone sounded tempted and Angus hurried to sight his target.

“Now now, wait a second. Everyone just relax.” Taako cut in, then paused. There was the sound of rustling behind Angus as the elf continued. “Actually, that’s a really good idea. Agnes, you look seriously stressed. You need to relax.”

And suddenly the boy was being pushed backwards. Angus yelped, pinwheeling his arms until he fell onto a… pile of robes. Bubbling water sounded nearby, and soothing, almost boring music flowed. Was he in a spa? Where did a spa come from? He looked up to see Taako peeking in through the doorway.

“Sorry Pumpkin, but uh no kids under 13 in the hot tub.” And then the flap was closed. Angus scrambled to his feet and rushed for the door, but Taako must have specifically packed the pocket spa so that the doorway was blocked. He was trapped.

His breath hitched as tears prickled in his eyes. He messed up and was trapped, and the Bugbear was going to suffer for it. The child pushed at the door for a few more moments, testing it with the full impact of his strength. It didn’t budge. After a few moments he simply slumped against the flap, panting. He wasn’t getting out. The boy straightened and marched to the fancy pyramid of sandwiches piled up next to a couple bottles of champagne and sparkling grape juice. If Taako was going to lock him in here, then at the very least he was going to eat all of the elf’s sandwiches. 

Maybe try out that hot tub too, just to be obstinate.

He didn’t use the hot tub. Not because of Taako, but because there was an official warning printed on it and if nothing else, Angus listened to those. 

* * *

“Nope, no killing at all.” Taako affirmed (lied) to Hurley as he shrugged off his pack and threw it onto one of the chairs. Almost immediately the bag distended as Angus McDonald fought his way out. “Maybe a  little  kidnapping.”

“It’s Angus though, that doesn’t count.” Magnus said confidently, as though that would mean anything to the increasingly horrified monk. 

Angus crawled out of the bag and fixed a glare on the three adventurers as he straightened his glasses. “That was very  rude  of you, sirs.”

“How rude!” Taako mumbled, the child’s glare having no effect on him.

“Uh, who is this?” Hurley asked, carefully setting down the tools she was working with and eyeing the boy warily.

“My name is Angus, and I’m the world’s greatest detective, Sergeant Hurley. Or, I suppose I should say Miss. The Ram, since this is outside of working hours.”

Hurley gaped at the child, but Angus simply turned to the door. “Now if you will excuse me sirs, I have to get back to the Hammerhead Headquarters and hope that they don’t think that I’m part of… whatever chaos you guys caused.” He huffed and started towards the door. “They were hurting Mr. Bugbear and if they bring him to the race then-“

“Oh, you mean Klarg?” Magnus asked, perking up.

Angus stopped midstep, freezing so suddenly that one foot was still in the air. “Klarg?”

“Yup! He’s my Hugbear Buddy!”

“Oh yeah, we go way back.” Taako added.

Merle nodded. “Yeah, at least 20 episodes.” That… that was an odd metric, but Angus chose not to focus on that.

“You guys know the bugbear? He- he’s ok?”

“Sure thing.” Taako answered, twirling his umbrella. Angus visibly deflated, relaxing his entire body.

"Last I saw, he stole a motorcycle and bounced." Magnus added.

“Oh. That’s… that’s good.” Suddenly he seemed bashful, looking at the floor and making small circles with his foot. “I’m sorry. I was really rude to you.”

Taako snorted. “Bubbelah, if you think that’s rude, we have a lot of training for you.”

Angus smiled softly. Then took a deep breath. He took approximately five seconds to center himself –he’d learned to do it fast- his mind flashing though what he knew and what he could deduce. He already knew that the three adventurers were part of a secret organization, that they were searching for powerful and valuable objects, whatever they had stolen from the Hammerheads wasn’t it or they would be gone already, they were in a garage with a racer, they must have stolen a wagon part, they wanted to be in the race, presuming that they weren’t the kind of people to race just for the lolz (which they definitely were) then that meant that they needed to race to get their artifact, someone else in the race must have the artifact, the Raven was known for being a fantastic racer in addition to being a thief, the Raven suddenly got immensely powerful, the adventurers were teaming up with his prime suspect for being the Raven’s teammate- the Ram- who had practically confirmed his suspicion. Therefore…

“The Raven has one of the artifacts you’re searching for, doesn’t she? And you really think racing her is going to help?”

“Dang, Angus!” Magnus yelped. “It’s like, insanely creepy when you do that. Like the bracers were one thing, but that was a whole lotta leaps. It’s like you’re being fed information by an omniscient narrator or something.”

Hurley meanwhile looked startled, then panicked, then impressed. “Wow kid, you really are a good detective, huh?”

“World’s greatest Ma’am.” He said, remembering his manners and moving to shake her hand. It was easy to do as they were almost the same height.

Suddenly she snapped. “Wait, Angus… are you the detective who helped with that one fraud case? I was one of the in-charge officers but we never actually met.”

Angus perked. “Possibly, I helped with a lot of fraud cases in Goldcliff.”

“The one with the fierbogs?”

“Oh yeah! That had been an interesting one.” Someone had opened several credit accounts in the name of some local fierbogs, and it was hard to prove that they didn’t exist because fierbogs didn’t actually  do  names so it was hard to identify them. It had been fun.

“Pleasure to finally meet you. To answer your question, yeah. I know Sl- The Raven better than anyone. Right now she thinks she’s all-powerful. If we prove her wrong, if we  beat  her, she might listen to reason. It’s the best hope we have.”

Angus thought about that for a moment. He didn’t- couldn’t- know much about the artifacts, but they said that they were dangerous. He’d seen the bank with the vines, he knew that whatever it was, was powerful. And the adventurers… he trusted them. He wasn’t sure why, they certainly weren’t  nice,  but he thought that they were good. His instincts told him to trust him, and his instincts were really very good.

“Okay, do you have a map of the racetrack?” He spent several hours with the four, going over the map and discussing the other competitors with Hurley while the other three… bedazzled their harnesses of all things. He gave her all of the information that he had hidden from the Hammerheads, any bit of truth that was useful, or could be useful. It took hours, and he was exhausted by the end of it but… he liked to think he had helped.

“-and I’m not sure exactly what the crickets have planned, but I know it’s magic, and its dangerous so watch out for them. I think… I think that’s it.”

Hurley looked up from the notebook she had been jotting things down in. “That’s  it? Angus, it’s amazing. I’ve never gone into a race this prepared before. Between this, a full team, and the arcane core we actually have a shot!”

“Now hold on,” Magnus interrupted. “Are you saying that before, we didn’t have a shot?”

Hurley ignored him. “You sure I can’t convince you to sneak onto the wagon? Teams are typically a max of four-“ Because somehow the illegal sport had official rules- “But you’re small enough that I’m sure you could stow away.”

Angus smiled. “Thank you for the offer Ma’am, but I’m pretty sure that the captain would be cross with me if he found out, and that could be bad for future business. If it’s all the same to you Ma’am, I would prefer not to take the chance.”

“Fair enough.” She sighed, before turning to the three half-dozing adventurers who were covered in sparkles. “C’mon over here real quick. I’ve got some things for you.”

Angus slipped out as the trio started making lewd jokes, yawning as he hit the streets. Captain Captain Bane would likely be asleep, but he should make his way to the milita base and give  somebody  his report on the Hammerheads before… whatever happened tomorrow happened.

Also, while his detective instincts wanted nothing more to stick around and see the result of the race and retrieval of the artifact, his survival instincts (which were unfortunately well-honed for someone his age) were urging him to get as far away as possible.

He wasn’t sure which instinct was going to win out, but it would be very nice if he had some gold in his pocket before he made the choice.

The detective instinct would probably be the victor, it usually was.

He was sorting through the information, trying to determine what he would and would not let the milita in on when a hand reached out and pulled him into an alleyway.

Angus yelped, fighting against an attack for the second time that day. This time he reacted quicker, uncovering his crossbow and whirling on- the bugbear!

“Mr. B- Mr. Klarg, sir!” The boy said with a relieved sigh.

The larger humanoid quirked a surprised eyebrow when the child said his name, but didn’t ask about it. Instead he grunted, “You didn’t come back.”

“Oh, uh right. I’m sorry sir, I was, uh, kidnapped I guess, by Taako. He, uh, he said you knew them?”

Klarg’s face scrunches into anger. “Oh, I know them alright.” He growled.

Not a fan then. That was understandable. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to help you escape, sir. I’m glad that you got out.” He said earnestly. Some of Klarg’s anger seemed to recede. He ran a hand over his face.

“You want some tea?” He grunted. Angus perked up, his plan to go to the militia office forgotten.

“Sure, sir!” Klarg lead the boy a little outside of town, where there was a small campfire sitting in the middle of a small glen beside a motorcycle that Angus recognized as previously being in the Hammerhead garage. They were still close to goldcliff, but far enough away that presumably, no one would bother them. There was a cast iron teapot sitting on the fire and Klarg poured water from it into two cups. He carefully added some tea leaves, but didn’t hand Angus the cup yet, presumably letting it steep.

Angus didn’t ask where he had gotten the… everything.

For a moment there was nothing but the sound of crackling flames and the scent of smoke. Then Angus ventured, “How did, how did you get out?”

The bugbear grunted and softly swirled the cups as though to circulate the tea. Angus wasn’t sure if that was an actual tea technique or a nervous tick. “Magnus recognized me. He crushed some guys under the lift, they all started fighting, and I figured even if you did come up with a distraction, it wouldn’t be better than that.”

“They are certainly good at causing a commotion.” Angus said.

Klarg grunted, but Angus somehow got the impression that it was a sound of fondness that he was covering with anger. “So I know what I was doing there,” Klarg said suddenly, handing Angus one of the cups. “What about you? How did you fall in with that lot.”

Angus took a sip of the drink and smiled. It was good. “Well sir, I’m the world’s greatest detective! I was investigating the Hammerheads for the Goldcliff Militia because they thought they were into some shady stuff. Which, evidently was the truth.” He nodded at the bugbear, whose wrists were still raw from his bindings. 

“Yeah, I guess that was a good call.” The bugbear said, though he still looked distracted. “And the Militia just… let you? Threw you into a criminal bunker and hoped you wouldn’t be killed.” He was starting to sound angry. Angus knew that Bugbears had a rightfully earned reputation for being violent, but that violence meant that many of them had ended up sleeping on the same streets as Angus, and he found that while they could be dangerous and prone to anger, they also were fairly good at sticking to their word, and were willing to make a deal for information. He had never actually been hurt by one, though he had been in face to face with their anger several times. He knew how to mediate it well enough.

Angus poured Klarg some more water for another cup of tea, drawing the bugbear out of his thoughts. The best way to deal with an angry bugbear was to make them think about something else, in this case the tea, until he was calm enough to talk. “They actually hired me just to watch them, presumably from a distance. I figured I could get more information by infiltrating them, and I did. It’s all part of being a good detective, sometimes you have to take risks. Usually, I can make the risks work out in my favor.”

“That sounds dangerous.” Klarg said, though he had calmed a small bit, handing Angus the small box of tea leaves. Angus took the opportunity to pour some more drink for himself as well.

“I assure you, sir, I am quite capable of handling myself.” He insisted absently, carefully shaking out the same amount of leaves as Klarg had earlier.

The bugbear was looking at him skeptically. “You got kidnapped. Twice if you count me.”

“I was going to shoot you.” Angus protested.

“That crossbow would barely scratch me.”

Angus bristled, as he often did when people were condescending to him regarding his safety. It wasn’t true anger, he knew that. It was anger that existed only because of his fear. He knew what he did was dangerous, he knew that he was vulnerable and just a very small boy, and that his intelligence was his only true weapon, no matter how good with his crossbow he got. He was scared. But what else was he supposed to do?

The bugbear caught his expression and growled. “Look kid, all I’m saying is, I don’t really have any place to… I don’t have any plans for what’s next.” Angus cocked his head in confusion. That wasn’t… wasn’t what he had been saying at all. Angus didn’t see the connection. “I don’t know about any… detective stuff, but if you need like, a bodyguard… well I’m not busy.”

Angus blinked in confusion. “You want to be my bodyguard?” The bugbear shrugged, looking surly and uncomfortable. “I… I don’t make very much money, sir. I don’t have a home, I kind of just… wander, and make enough for food and supplies between jobs.”

“Right, right. Whatever, I can find… find another gerblin cave or something. See if I can get a new dog, one that isn’t afraid of fire…”

“Wait, sorry sir I didn’t mean…” Angus felt his mouth go dry as his mind caught up to what was happening. This was… this was an actual adult who wanted to be with him, to take care of him- or at the very least protect him. This wasn’t a group of adventurers who would use him for their quest and then go on their merry way, wasn’t a militia team hired to help him finish a job, this was an offer of partnership, the opportunity to have help that he could rely on. It was an opportunity to have a partner; a friend. This was… this was amazing. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I don’t have much, and I don’t always know when the next case will come, but… if you have the time anyway I would be honored to share it with you.”

The bugbear looked at him seriously. “Really?”

“Yes.” Angus said emphatically, a grin splitting his face as his head bobbled in frantic agreement. He decided to risk joking, “Especially if you keep making tea like this, sir.”

Klarg snorted a laugh. “Well alright then, sounds like a deal.” 

Angus emptied his backpack, using his tools to make a quick camp. The night was clear so he didn't bother with his small tent, instead rolling out his sleeping bag next to a pile of blankets Klarg had dropped a few yards away from the fire. He had some rations, which he split with the bugbear, giving him a little extra since he doubted the Hammerheads had been especially considerate of his needs. He told stories for much of the night, regaling the bugbear with tales of his cases and examples of how he could use help until his voice started going scratchy. He fell asleep to the sound of a rumbling bugbear snore with a large grin on his face. 

* * *

Angus woke to the sound of packing. He squinted as he woke, momentarily confused by the noise until he remembered the prior day’s events. He immediately popped to a sitting position. Klarg was almost finished packing up the camp, even most of Angus’s things were stowed back in the child's backpack. As Angus pulled on his glasses, the man tipped over the teapot to dump the last of the water over the firepit, and kicked up sand and dirt to cover the remaining embers. 

The bugbear grinned broadly at Angus when he noticed that the child was awake. “Well good morning to you, hope you slept well!” Angus started, scrambling to his feet. That… that wasn’t Klarg’s normal voice. It was much… lighter, not as gruff, and slightly accented. It was... wrong,  and it sent Angus’s alarm bells ringing. 

“Klarg?” He said hesitantly, keeping his distance from the creature that just last night he had decided to trust. “Are you feeling… okay?”

Klarg grinned even harder. “Why, I am doing just wonderfully, thank you so much for asking.” He said in the same  very-wrong voice. “I just woke up and realized that my very dear friend Taako was in need of some help and I knew that, well, I just couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do my very best to help.”

“Taako?” Angus asked, remembering the Bugbear’s strangely fond hostility for the three adventurers the night before.

“Yes, we are, we are very close friends. He is very charming, wouldn’t you say?”

Charming? Charm person? Angus thought, connecting the slightly glazed look in the bugbear’s eyes. But… but it didn’t make sense, not really. Unless Taako for some reason snuck into the camp less than an hour ago, cast the spell, and left immediately, which… no. 

Klarg continued, unaware of the child’s thoughts. “I’m sorry that I don’t have any tea for you to wake up to, but I’m afraid we really must be in a rush if we are going to make it to the race.”

“The race?” Angus yelped, but began stuffing the last of his belongings back into his bag. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he wasn’t going to let Klarg go alone. Besides, if Klarg was really going to find Taako, then that seemed the best place to get answers.

* * *

Taako stared into the glowing ball, removed his harness, climbed onto the railing… and jumped. For a moment it was as though he was suspended. Then, he was falling, the ground was speeding toward him, this… was going to be a lot of damage.

Then, suddenly out of nowhere there was a roar, and a motorcycle and a hand gripped the back of his cloak, saving him a few scant feet above the rapidly moving ground. 

“Wow, that was a close one, wasn’t it?” A familiar, pleasant voice said. 

Taako stared at Klarg for a moment from where he was awkwardly crouched in front of him on the motorcycle. He glanced at the sidecar and considered how likely he was to die climbing into it at full speed. Just as he was considering it, the bundle in the car moved and Angus McDonald's face was revealed. 

Klarg continued speaking, and Taako’s attention snapped back to the bugbear. “Are you doing okay? I was worried about you, and I saw you flying all hither and yon through the air.”

Taako let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, my dude! I’m- I’m good now, thank you!” Klarg started babbling something about tea, but Taako was distracted by Angus’s reproachful, suspicious gaze. 

"I think you owe me an explanation, Sir." Angus shouted over the roar of the vehicles. 

“Well uh, Agnus, here’s the thing: you just took the words out of my mouth, my dude.”

“Oh, I can clear everything up!” Klarg proclaimed, still using that gentle, accented voice. “I heard that my dear friend Taako was signing up for this very dangerous race and thought that it might be good to come and offer my services should you need them. It appears that it was a good thing that I did, you coulda took a- a nasty tumble there.” 

Angus shot Taako a reproachful look. “Did you charm him?” He accused. 

“Not for like, a long time.”

Angus opened his mouth to continue questioning the wizard when suddenly a loud blaring sounded and pillars rose from the ground and started shooting  lasers  at them. The first came frighteningly close, knocking off the ‘Taako on Board’ that the bugbear had added just before the beginning of the race. 

“Woah!” The bugbear yelled as he swerved the motorcycle away. “That seemed, uh - that was rude. I wonder what caused that?”

Taako looked at the creature incredulously. “Hey Klarg, are you supposed to be in this race?”

The bugbear went on a rambling rant that was basically a round-about way of saying ‘Nope’. Taako confirmed that the kid was actually registered (Apparently the Hammerheads had really liked him during that like, 5 minute span he was with them), as he magic missile-ed the boar and just continued to be the most baller racer in the history of battle wagons. Eventually however, the lasers just grew to be too distracting and he proceeded to talk the Bugbear into jumping off of the motorcycle and onto another battlewagon. 

Angus had protested every step of the way, but Klarg was well and truly charmed by Taako and did it with minimal hesitation. Angus gaped as Taako drove the motorcycle away, struggling with his seatbelt and watching worriedly as the lasers destroyed the wagon. This was wrong, it was all wrong. Charm person wasn’t supposed to let you make them to do anything harmful.

"Ya' okay there pumpkin?"

"Klarg, he- is he going to be-" 

"He'll be fine. I'm pretty sure he's going to be connected to a plot point later on." 

Angus glanced back worriedly, but was soon distracted by the chaos of spells and road battle going on around him. He shot at enemies with his crossbow and called out directions and warnings as the battle raged around them. Taako made the wheels of the motorcycle larger to increase its speed- 'it doesn't work like that, sir!', 'shhhhhhhhh'- and started gaining ground. 

Ahead, Hurley and Sloan were neck and neck, their wagons banging against each other as they laughed at the thrill of the race and the pure joy of driving. The finish line was approaching, the race was coming to a neck and neck, so close that Angus was at the edge of his sidecar seat. 

Then Taako pulled out a new wand, and suddenly Angus was riding in the sidecar of a renowned thief with godlike powers. 

Taako whooped as he passed the finish line. 

"We won!" Merle yelled.

"Excuse you,  I  won." Taako argued, and the two bickered as Magnus nervously eyed the motorcycle. 

"Taako, did you leave Ango in the motorcycle car of the, um, the person who tried to kill us earlier?"

"Yeah but like, that was just cause we tried to kill her and junk. Isn't she supposed to be, like, a good person overall or something like that? Agnes is smarter than us, he won't antagonize her, it'll be fine." 

"Yeah, but… that was before we made her really really mad." All eyes turned to the Raven, who Sloan had already been watching warily. The thief threw her helmet onto the ground, Angus not daring to so much as breathe as the woman rose sinuously from her seat on the cycle. She stalked to the cliff edge, each step splitting Earth and making vines come forth as the wind grew more and more powerful. She reached the edge just as a tornado formed. Looking back, she gave one last ominous warning before becoming one with the storm. 

It took barely a moment before the three adventurers were joining Hurley on her wagon, their words still joking and amused, though their eyes were hard with determination. 

Angus frantically pulled at the seatbelt as the three adventurers climbed into the battlewagon with Sloan, some part of his mind insisting that, somehow, he could help. However, by the time that he was finally free from the motorcycle, the wagon had disappeared into the tornado.

Still sitting in the seat, Angus watched with dropped jaw and rapidly-beating heart as the tornado raged, no hint of the battlewagon in sight. They were gone. He couldn't help.

The child shook his head, forcing himself to acknowledge that he probably couldn't have helped even if he  had been on the wagon. Climbing out of the sidecar, Angus started running back on the track, determined to help the one person he could.

Klarg was rubbing his head with a grimace on his furred face when Angus finally made it back to him, though thankfully he seemed to be in one piece save for a few bumps and bruises. The lasers had evidently stopped when the race ended, because they were gone.

“Sir, are you okay?” Angus asked as he scrambled over. The bugbear blinked at Angus blearily, but unlike earlier, his eyes cleared after a few blinks.

“Angus? Yeah I… well no, guess I’m not.” Klarg growled, voice back to the gravely deep pitch he’d had when they first met.

Angus dropped his backpack to the ground and started rummaging for his bandages. Usually they were right on top in case of emergency, but he had packed so quickly that morning that he had to do some digging. “I can try and help, sir. I don’t have any healing potions, but I know a little bit about medicine, and I had some things in here that…” The boy trailed off when he caught Klarg’s expression.

“Sorry kid, that not- that’s not what I meant.” He sounded so regretful that it made Angus’s heart freeze in his chest, and the boy clutched the found roll of bandages in his hand like a stress ball as Klarg continued. “Physically you know, I’m okay. It’s more the uh, mental… stuff.”

The bugbear sighed and arranged himself into a more comfortable sitting position. Angus hesitantly began putting some disinfecting ointment on a cut on the humanoid’s arm. “Angus… I told you that those jerks took everything from me? Well, at first it wasn’t too bad. Sure, they had all of my valuables and had revealed that my employees were trying to kill me, but eh. That’s business, there are stories like that every day on ChainLinkedin.”

“There  are ?” Angus asked, incredulous.

“But see, I coulda rebuilt from that easily. I started out from a worse place.”

“You  did ?”

“But then… a few days later I just… had this urge to find and help Taako. Like I was charmed again, even though I hadn’t seen him for a week. The urge was so strong that I… left. I left my cave, my home, my place of business and just wandered for hours looking for Taako. When I snapped out of it, I went back home but it happened again the next day. Then a few days after that. After a few times I just… didn’t go home. Couldn’t run a business like that, decided to stop trying.”

The bugbear sighed and was silent for a moment before continuing. “That’s the only way they managed to catch me, you know? I’m a- I’m a bugbear for crying out loud. I could have ripped those slavers apart easier that you can rip…” He looked at Angus’s thin arms. “Paper? You can rip paper, right?”

“Yes sir.”

“Like, multiple sheets at once?”

“I- a couple.”

“Huh. Then easier than you can rip paper. But I asked them if they knew my  good friend Taako ," he said, emphasising the last words in a mockingly nasal way, "They said they did, and next thing I know I’m being sold to a bunch of idiots who watched too much fantasy shark week. When I saw those three and wasn’t charmed I thought… I don’t know, I thought I’d broken it somehow. Guess not.”

Angus nodded slowly, he still wasn’t sure how a charm person spell could do something like this, but to know that it had started a while back was a good starting point. “Ok, I have some contacts that know a lot about magic theory who could probably help. They don’t owe me any favors or anything, so it could be expensive, but we could start making our way over to New Elfington anyway. I’m sure we can find a few good detective jobs on the way if we…” Angus trailed to a stop when he caught the expression on Klarg’s face.

“Yeah kid… I don’t think… there’s going to be a  we .”

Angus’s heart fell to his stomach. “What- what do you mean?”

“This isn’t going to work, if I have an… episode in the middle of a case, or when you’re relying on me to do somethin’, or if I just start wandering off… it would be more dangerous to you than if I wasn’t there at all. I mean look at what happened to you  today  because of it.”

Angus clenched his fists. He was a very smart little boy, a very independent little boy, a very well-mannered little boy… but he was still a very little boy, and in that instant he wanted nothing more than to have a tantrum. He wanted to scream and beat the floor and shout that it wasn’t fair, that Klarg had said he would join him, that none of it was right, and that he  wanted . He itched to yell and kick his feet and let out 10 years of frustration that  it wasn’t fair .

He didn’t. Instead he took a deep breath, clenched and released his fists, and nodded. “Ok sir, I understand. You are probably right. After all, I was just stuck in the motorcycle car of a supervillain.”

“You what?” Klarg asked, but Angus forced himself onwards, knowing that if he hesitated for a second then he wouldn’t be able to keep his emotions at bay.

“I’ll give you the name of that contact anyway, sir. If you end up near New Elfington you can try and talk with them.” He put the rest of the bandages back in his bag and rummaged for a scrap of paper to write the information on. He only came up with Jess the Beheader’s business card from that time on the train, but he had that information memorized by now, so he didn’t mind scrawling the contact’s name and address on the slip of cardstock.

“Yeah, uh, thanks kid.” Klarg was avoiding looking at him, but Angus was determined to continue on as though nothing was wrong. Nothing  was  wrong. His life was the exact same as it always had been, it was fine.

“I think your motorcycle is still drivable, though the wheels are kinda big now. Honestly, I think it just makes it cooler.”

“Well uh, lead the way I guess.” Klarg said, even gruffer than normal. It was a silent, awkward walk back to where the cycle was parked. Angus wasn’t sure he could speak around the lump in his throat, and Klarg didn’t say anything until they had actually reached the vehicle. “Do you, uh, do you want a ride anywhere.”

“Oh no, thank you sir, but I have a lot of paperwork to fill out, and I need to get paid. In Goldcliffe that can take several hours on a good day, and-” Angus looked to where the tornado was still raging. “It doesn’t look like a very good day.”

Klarg grunted in agreement. A loud rumble sounded as he started up the motorcycle, though he seemed reluctant to leave.

Angus forced himself to speak. “If you… if this ever stops being an issue, the offer is still on the table.”

For the first time since he stopped being charmed, Klarg grinned. “That sounds good, kid.”

Then he was off, and Angus turned back to the town just in time to see the tornado disappear, a gigantic cherry blossom tree growing in its place. For some reason, at the sight of the beautiful tree, Angus couldn’t help but feel mournful.

Finally, he let himself cry. 


	4. The Crystal Kingdom and Magic Time (Lunar Interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get to see a bit of what happens when a fake moon goes the wrong way across the sky, see a private Candlenights, and get a glimpse into the Boyland family!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit of a longer chapter, but a lot happens in it. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!
> 
> Posted early for Memorial Day. For those honoring a loved one on this day, my heart goes out to you!

Angus grimaced as he shuffled the pages of his report together, going through one last time to make sure that there were no spelling or grammatical errors. He was sure other detectives could afford a few slip ups, but you had to work a bit harder to prove your professionalism when you still technically had to order a fantasy happy meal. 

He would especially have to work hard at showing that he was mature and responsible when he showed up like this. The boy played with the fringe of his torn sleeve for a moment before grimacing and jumping off of the chair to his feet, knowing that he was just stalling at that point. 

The Neverwinter Militia already had the smugglers they’d hired Angus to find, the criminals nestled in their cells. Plus, Angus had made sure to gather plenty of evidence before he’d made the call to the Militia. Between all of that and his report, he expected it to be a pretty open and shut case. It was just that, well, there was a reason he’d mostly contacted them through his brand new Stone of Farspeech (That was the great thing about Goldcliff, they paid extremely well, even when things go completely off the rails and nobody- not even Angus- could remember who had even hired him in the first place. The contract Angus had signed had been of no help, the name smudged to a completely illegible degree, but there was an official stamp on it so they had paid up and paid well). It had also been nice that when the officers had arrived at the smugglers’ hideout, it was late enough to be dark out. Darkvision or no, wizard lights and flames had a way of creating shadows and odd coloring that Angus had long since learned to work with. 

The smugglers hadn’t even done that much damage. It was just that, well, he was a very small boy and didn’t have very many hit points.

Taking a deep breath, Angus determined that he had stalled long enough, and marched through the precinct with his head held high, pretending he didn’t notice the stares he got at the scrapes on his arms, the bruises, and the way his very fancy pants were shredded somewhat at the knee. 

Instead he walked to the Captain’s office as though nothing was wrong, knocking sharply at the door. He was invited inside almost immediately. The Captain’s face was hard to read on a good day, and it seemed even more stone-like as he observed Angus’s disheveled state. Still, his voice did not betray any emotion. “Good work today.” The human man said, standing to lean over the desk to give Angus a crisp handshake. 

“Thank you, Captain.” Angus said as he handed the man his report. A single eyebrow rose as the captain quickly glanced at the top few sentences before putting it aside to give Angus his full attention. “I think that you should have everything that you need in my report, but please let me know if you need my testimony for the trial.”

They were a rather unconventional band of smugglers. Rather than smuggling in artwork, drugs, or gold like the typical Caleb Cleveland style bad guy, they had worked with a band of raiders to waylay any caravans bringing over the year’s most desired candlenight’s presents. They had been selling the now-scare goods at outrageous prices. It sounds silly, but they had made hundreds of thousands of gold pieces over the last few weeks alone, and were costing businesses and transportation guilds thousands in profit that they relied upon to give out candlenights bonuses. 

The militia captain gave an agreeing grunt, but was bent over to pull a decently-sized bag of coins out of a drawer. Hilariously, he also had a white paper envelope that appeared to be completely stuffed with coins, a bow tied at top of the bulging, odd-looking wrapper. Why would anyone put gold in an envelope? 

“The team and I all pitched in to get you a bit of a candlenights bonus, as a thank you for all that you’ve done this year.” 

“Thank you, Captain.” The boy said earnestly as he accepted the two containers, holding the envelope reverently. That truly was very kind. However, it didn’t seem the man was done as he also handed over a decent-sized book with a familiar cover. 

“That is from the commissioner, she got special permission to check it out of holding early. Happy Candlenights, Angus.”

The child could only gape; clutching fervently at the copy of Caleb Cleveland and the Candlenights Caper, the must-have book of the season which was going for 5 times the normal price thanks to the criminals. It had a waiting list a mile long at the library, Angus thought he’d have to wait months to read it.

“I- thank- Sir, I cannot say how much this means to me. Thank you so much.” 

“You’ve earned it. You have done a lot for us this past year, and we certainly appreciate it.” 

“Of course, Captain.” The boy brightened. “And now that you have the frequency for my stone, you should be able to contact me more timely for any future cases!” He said cheerfully, spirits buoyed by the present. 

There was a slight tick in the man’s brow, the only sign of any discomfort as his eyes raked over Angus’s battered form. “Of course. Though we are trying out a few new things this year, I anticipate the crime in Neverwinter dropping drastically after we enact a few programs we have in the works. Perhaps you should take some time off.”

Angus’s genuine grin turned plastic and he chirped out another couple of ‘thank you’s before scurrying away with his gold and book. This always happened. The Militias or adventurers or whoever were fine with using a child to solve crimes when everything was good, but if he got so much as a scratch they would realize, ‘oh wait, this is an extremely tiny individual’ and suddenly ‘poof’. They would stop contacting him. Some weird form of guilty conscience would somehow decide that leaving him without work- without a way of making money for food- was more humane than sending him off on cases where he  _ might  _ get hurt. 

He forced the anger down as he wandered through the Neverwinter streets, making his way to a grocery store with his new paycheck. They would call him back up eventually. There would be some mystery, or case, or criminal that they couldn’t crack by themselves and they would call him again. It was just… that could take a while, and though they didn’t pay quite as nicely as Goldcliff, the Neverwinter Militia had been his most consistent customers. 

He would survive through, he had been in the middle of working on a very interesting citizen case involving several unusual missing person reports. He had actually just made a breakthrough when he’d received the letter from the Neverwinter’s Militia, and he’d made this case a priority in hopes of solving it in time for candlenights. Now that it was over, he could go back to investigating the disappearances. 

It may be a while before he was able to actually solve the the missing person’s case, though as long as he made progress he could ask for advances. If he ever really get into a pitch then he could always sell some more of his silverware, though that reserve had been steadily dwindling for years. He hadn’t had to do that in a while, with cases coming more regularly ever since he had started to make a name for himself. He had even started getting the notion that someday he could maybe buy some of it back. Maybe he still would. Someday. 

He was really angrier at himself than the Captain anyway. He could have gotten out without a scratch, but he’d been fool-hardy, reckless. He got like that occasionally, but usually it was in spring when he could attribute it to being cooped up indoors or freezing in the cold for so long. 

Now though, he knew exactly why his recklessness had come early, and it was stupid. It was utterly and completely foolish. It wasn’t like him getting beat up would convince Klaarg that he should have stayed to help keep Angus safe. He hadn’t even seen the bugbear in weeks.

It was foolish, and it lost him Neverwinter, and- and he wouldn’t do it again. 

The boy nodded to himself as he forced his way into Fantasy Kroger, grabbing a basket (he was just a few inches too short to comfortably use the cart) and weaving around the legs of last-minute candlenights-dinner shoppers. Candlenights wasn’t until the next day, but stores typically closed early and no one wanted to work on the actual day of candlenights, so shops were always completely closed. 

He smiled as he threw one of the last candlenights themed Hungry-Adventurer Frozen Dinners into his basket, then grabbed an extra side of frozen candied yams from the same display. The inn he was staying at did have a kitchen in the attached tavern, but the crowds that spent candlenights in the bars of the cheap, run down inns that he could afford were not the type that would appreciate him running underfoot on the holiday. 

The owner was letting him have a bush in his room, though! They had even given him the decorations they had left over after making the tavern more festive, for free! He was looking forward to spending the night eating sweets, drinking hot chocolate, and decorating. And now, he could spend the actual holiday reading his new book! It was going to be a candlenights to remember.

The child was grinning as he moved out of the prepared meals section, moving past the baking supplies to the actual bakery in hopes of grabbing some cookies, or even a small candlenights cake. He stopped when he spotted a familiar umbrella out of the corner of his eye. Looking back into the aisle, Angus grinned broadly as he caught sight of Taako, basket on his arm full of almonds and pork rinds, contemplating a bottle of elderflower extract and a small bag of dried elderflowers. 

“Hello sir!” Angus chirped, and the wizard yelped as he was torn out of his concentration, dropping the bottle of extract to the floor where it shattered. There was a beat of silence, then Taako stuffed the dried flowers into his basket and speed walked into the next aisle. 

“C’mon Agnes, we don’t have all day.” He said as he moved, only slowing when they were three aisles away from the mess. 

“I’m sorry, sir.” Angus said contritely as he stepped on his tip toes to grab a box of hot coco mix off the shelf. Taako immediately stole it and swapped it with a different brand without saying a word. Angus frowned, but the price wasn’t that different so he chose not to mention it. “I didn’t mean to startle you so much.” 

“Pshah,” Taako dismissed. “Who was startled? Not Taako, I just wanted the flowers and couldn’t be bothered to put the extract back, my dude.”

“Oh, of course sir, that makes much more sense.” Angus said sarcastically.

Taako opened his mouth to retort then stopped. The elf blinked, and finally seemed to take in the boy’s appearance for the first time. The elf’s pointed ears fell back in surprise before he managed to correct them. “So uh, what’s with the whole spooky-scary zombie routine?” Taako asked, gesturing broadly at Angus’s torn pants and jacket, as well as his smattering of bruises. 

“Oh, it’s nothing sir.” Angus was quick to assure, though Taako was now looking at his nails as though he didn’t care about the answer. Angus continued as though the man did. “Just a, uh, just a case that didn’t go exactly as planned. Don’t worry though, we caught them.” 

“Well natch,” Taako said dismissively, and there was something exhilarating about that, how he dismissed Angus’s achievement so readily. It was as though solving the case meant nothing because of course he would, Taako hadn’t considered otherwise. “But we’ve got a problem, boychik.” 

“We uh, we do?” 

“Mmhh, hmm.” The wizard hummed, pulling a can of Pringles off of a nearby shelf and examining them before shrugging and putting them back. “You see, I have a brand, a certain special Taako flavor if you will. I’m Taako, from TV, gotta protect the image if you know what I’m saying.” 

“I, uh, I suppose so, sir?” Angus said hesitantly. He knew better than most how important it was to maintain an image, though he wasn’t sure exactly how this was… relevant. 

“Well, cha boy’s image doesn’t really fit with the whole, kid-who-lost-a-fight-with-a-schoolyard-bully aesthetic, you feel me?”

Angus deflated. Oh, that was… that made sense he supposed. “I understand, sir.” He said softly, looking at his feet. 

Taako sighed dramatically. “Yup. So, if you’re going to keep popping up like a demented boomerang, guess I’m going to have to teach you some magic so that you can stop showing up looking all… that.” 

Angus blinked blankly at Taako for a few long seconds as the elf’s willowy figure moved into the next aisle. Finally his mind caught up, and he found himself scrambling after the wizard. “Wait, sir! Sir, did you really mean that? You- you’ll really teach me magic.” 

“Sure, why not. Living on ***** is getting boring anyway, need something to do.” The elf suddenly stumbled forward as Angus leaped into a hug. 

“Oh, thank you thank you thank you sir! I am so excited, I can’t believe it.” 

“Well, natch. You’re learning magic from  _ the _ Taako. Basically hit the jackpot just standing around. But uh, wrinkles aren’t a part of the Taako brand either, so if you would…” He made a flicking motion and Angus dropped the hug, though he was still grinning broadly as he retrieved his basket. 

“Thank you sir, this is the best candlenights present ever.” 

“Yeah yeah, save the flattery for when class is in session, kay pumpkin.” The elf straightened his hat and started making his way to the checkout lanes, Angus at his heels. The boy grabbed a box of cookies from a shelf near the counter, and waited in line behind Taako, practically vibrating with excitement. He saw the wizard glancing over the ingredients once more before putting his purchase on the counter. 

“Are you making some cookies for Candlenights, sir?”

“Not just cookies, elderflower macarons.” Taako said with a flourish. 

“They sound delicious, sir.” 

“They are.” The elf began to detail the macaroon making progress, and Angus nodded along, though truthfully he was only half paying attention. He was trying to figure out if any magic stores where he could get a wand would be open for the night, or if he should just wait until after the holiday. He spared a moment to be grateful to the Neverwinter Militia for his bonus, he should be able to afford a new wand with that instead of risking a used one. 

He was still deep in thought as he followed Taako out of the store, until the moment that his grocery bag was taken from his grasp. Angus gasped, whirling and reaching for his crossbow, only to freeze when he realized the bag was being held just a couple inches over his head. The detective blinked, then looked to see Magnus holding the handles high in the air. 

“Ango! Happy candlenights.” 

“Happy candlenights, sir!” Angus chirped, reaching for his bag only for Mangus to jerk it back just enough that he couldn’t reach. “Oh, we’re still, we’re still doing this then.” 

“Yup!” The man replied cheerily, mockingly yanking the bag away from the child’s reaching arms before finally dropping it. Angus scrambled to catch it before it hit the ground, and grinned when he did. Magnus had a few large bags himself, though they were filled with large hunks of wood, a couple cans of stain, and what looked like a set of carving knives. 

“Are both of you making homemade candlenights presents, sirs?” Trusting in his deductive reasoning to fill in the blanks behind the copious amounts of lumber and cooking ingredients close to the holidays. 

“Course my man, like I’d spend actual money on those chuckleheads on the *******.” 

Angus nodded. He was growing used to the strange bouts of static that replaced words. It could be frustrating when he tried to solve the many mysteries surrounding the three men and feel his thoughts slipping away or hitting a wall, but it was surprisingly easy to get used to in conversation. 

“Yeah! Plus uh, presents coming from the heart, and showing you care and all that.” Magnus added cheerfully, somehow sounding sincere and mocking in equal measures in a way Angus wouldn’t have thought possible. 

“Is Mr. Highchurch here as well?” 

“Ew, Mr. Highchurch, hachi machi.” Taako said with a disgruntled face as Magnus laughed. 

“Nah, he said he wanted things to be a surprise, but he’ll just grab whatever junk he can find lying around and try to pawn it off to others.” 

Angus laughed. “Does he do that every year?” 

“Don’t know.” Taako said. He had apparently grown bored with the conversation and was checking his nails, which had been painted in festive, glittery colors. “This’ll be our first candlenights with the old man.” 

Angus blinked, surprised by the casual certainty in Magnus’s voice when mixed with Taako’s claim. The thought seemed to fly into a wall and fade away in the next instant, leaving Angus feeling confused and slightly unsettled, but unsure as to why. Instead he perked up, pulling his backpack off of his shoulder and rummaging around until he found what he was looking for. “Well sirs, since you don’t mind presents from the heart that aren't wrapped…” He pulled out a trio of books: Caleb Cleveland and the Suspicious Spectacular Spellcaster (Which he handed to Taako), Caleb Cleveland and the Accidental Axe-murderer (For Magnus), and Caleb Cleveland and the Gruesome Gardner (For Merle). The three books would be perfect for them, they were some of his favorites. He wished he could get them new, but he honestly hadn’t known if he would ever see the three adventurers again. If Taako was going to teach him magic though, maybe they would stick around.

The adventurers were about as interested in the books as Angus would have expected, which is to say not at all, but they took them nonetheless and accepted Angus’s new business card with his Stone of Farspeech frequency on display. Taako promised to call him to discuss magic sometime after Candlenights and ‘when he was good and ready’. Angus practically skipped away when he left, excited for the best candlenights ever. 

* * *

Taako shook his head as he watched the little nerd skip off. Half of him couldn’t believe he’d offered to teach the dork magic. The other half was acknowledging that it would probably be the easiest magic-teaching gig ever conceived. With Ango as the student and more importantly him, The Taako, as the teacher, kid would be like, level 3 in one afternoon. 

“Ready to bounce?” He asked Magnus. 

“One more place, first. I saw a rosewood box in a pawn shop on our way in, the same type of wood as Johan’s favorite violin. Thought it would be funny if I could convince him I made his present out of his violin.” 

Taako cackled, nearly doubling over. “You- you should get Merle to steal it for you, really sell the grift. Bet you could convince him giving the violin back was the same thing as giving him a candlenights present.” 

“Genius.” Magnus agreed with a grin. He hummed in thought as they made their way to the shop. “Not sure I really dig Ango’s new sense of style. The fancy-lad was really going for him, the grunge-distressed look didn’t really fit.”

“He got beat up, my dude?”

“He what!” Magnus asked, startled. 

“Yeah, man. Like, covered in bruises.” 

Magnus scowled. “I get like, seventeen hits in a battle, but my perception still sucks.” 

“That it does, that it does.” Magnus was now standing still, looking back the way Angus looked, clearly contemplating tracking the boy down to mete out his own justice over whoever had hurt the boy. Taako rolled his eyes and nipped that in the bud, though personally he would have enjoyed watching it. “C’mon, my whipping cream is going to turn into ice cream if we stick out here any longer, and cha’boy won’t hesitate to go back to the moon without you.”

Magnus grumbled, but made his way into the pawn shop. He was immediately cheered up by the sight of the box he wanted and began haggling with the bored-looking shopkeep who clearly would prefer to be home. Taako idly wandered the aisles, looking at anything shiny, patterned, or otherwise interesting. There were a few decent items, and he grabbed a few trinkets that fit the Taako brand, knowing that he would have to upcycle some of it, but few designers could match his fashion anyway, so he was used to it. The wizard soon left the clothing section behind to pass through the kitchenware before collecting the folk-hero who was getting increasingly loud in his haggling. Usually he preferred to use new stuff, but you had to get cast iron used, get all that good pre-seasoning. He paused in the middle of the aisle, looking with wide eyes at a 3 piece silverware set with a very familiar pattern. He added it to his pile automatically, without a thought. 

* * *

Taako hummed as Merle and Magnus whispered over the mysterious present, having already lost interest. The director was looking their way, hand raised and mouth open as though about to ask what they were looking at. However, as she stepped towards them she paused next to the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room. She was staring at the decorative jar that held Taakos cooking implements with a disturbing intensity. 

"Fantasy Kitchen Aid, my dude." He sauntered over to her, making the usually composed woman jump. 

She gave him a wry look. "I know, Taako. We furnished the dorm. I just…" She reached over and pulled out a familiar cluster of silverware. After buying the utensils, Taako hadn't known what to do with them. He knew that he wouldn't be seeing the kid until after the holiday anyway, and since he spent most of the day in the kitchen preparing for the party he'd just kinda… stuck them in, outta sight outta mind. 

"I just thought that the etching on this was quite remarkable. Do-" her voice took on an odd tone and she took a moment to clear her throat. "Do you remember where you got them?" 

"Saw them in a pawn shop and thought they looked dope." 

"Were there… were there any others?"

"Nope! Taako bought them out!"

"Oh." She said softly, still looking at the three pieces with a look that was  _ way  _ too mushy for Taako to deal with.

"You like them so much, they're yours. No biggie. Didn't match the kitchen anyway." Agnes wouldn't miss what he didn't have. Sides, the kid was all empathetic and crap, he'd agree to it. 

"Oh, Taako. I, I-are you sure? If-" Lucretia's words were cut off when a voice started yelling from her necklace.

* * *

This was the best Candlnights ever, Angus thought as he cozied into his pile of blankets and pillows. He’d managed to make a nest on the window ledge with the pillows and blankets from the bed, and it not only gave him a perfect view of the lit candlenight’s bush in the corner, but also the window where snow was lightly drifting down. He had an end table within reaching distance with a plate of cookies and a warm mug of hot chocolate on it. Most importantly, he was ¾ of the way through his book, and it was looking to be one of the best stories yet. 

Angus put down the book and grabbed his drink and snack. A new clue had just been revealed and he was taking a moment to try and deduce how it fit in with everything else. 

He was looking at the window, still thinking everything through, when suddenly the moon  _ shot  _ off into the opposite direction. He scrambled to his feet, pressing his face to the glass, stunned as it moved across the sky. He had the fleeting thought that it wasn't right, that he had a mystery to solve, but almost immediately the thought flitted away. He tried to follow the thought, but there was a wall. The wall felt familiar somehow, but even that realization faded. 

He shook his head, but the only thought coming to mind was that there was absolutely nothing strange about having a second moon, and if it were that unusual for the moon to move like that, surely he would be more concerned. This must be something rare, but not unheard of; like a shooting star or a comet. For it to happen on candlenights was probably good luck! 

He turned back to his book, but found himself reading the same paragraph over and over without absorbing anything. There was something about that thought, the way he hit a wall; it was familiar. But not too familiar, because he couldn't place it. But not too not familiar because he couldn't shake the feeling that he should know what it meant.

He was still trying to parse through it all when his stone of farspeech started humming. He lunged across the room and accepted the call. "Hello? This is Angus McDonald speaking."

"Hey Ango!" Magnus greeted. 

Angus brightened. "Hello sir! Happy Candlenights!" He wondered if they were calling about the books he'd given them. They were his favorites, especially the Spectacular Spellcaster, the twist at the end where it was revealed that the wizzard had a twin the whole time was absolutely phenomenal. 

"Oh yeah, happy Candlenights! Hey, what do you know about the ********?" 

Oh, so this wasn't about the books that’s, that’s fine. It had only been a day, they probably just hadn't had a chance to finish them yet. 

The human began a lengthy explanation that was almost exclusively bursts of static. Something about a light? And a golem maybe. He finally finished, and an expectant silence followed. 

"Sorry sir, that was, uh, that was mostly static on my end." 

"Oh dunk, I forgot you hadn't been ****** yet. 'sokay, we can call someone on *****."

"Sorry sir! And sorry you have to work on candlenights."

"Wow, thank you Angus. Nobody else mentioned that and I really appreciate it." 

“Yeah, no problem. I-I love you!” He said, biting his lip with the risk. To his relief, Magnus replied easily. 

“Love you too.” 

He just heard Merle beginning to protest before the call cut off, but somehow that made him smile even more. 

Angus hummed happily in the silence that followed. He felt bad that he couldn't help, but it sounded like he was the first person they called when they needed help and that was amazing. The distraction had been enough that he could focus on the book again, and he settled back into his nest, this time keeping his stone close. 

It was a good thing he did, for he hadn't even finished the chapter before it was ringing again. 

"Hello sirs!" He chirped, “What's uh, what's cracking?” only to be met with breathless laughter. 

Taako bit out words amidst his giggles. “ Are you — hey listen, are you down here? ‘Cause I can swear I’m talking to you right now.”

“Uh, no sir. I don’t even know where you are.”

“A likely story. Do you have a brother? I swear to Pan there’s a little robot down here that —”

Magnus took a break from his raccous belly laughs to cut in. “ Did you sell your voice for like a robot company?” 

“Yeah, did you sell your voice to a robot company?” Taako parroted. 

Angus was, by this point, thoroughly confused. He’d had more understandable conversations with these three when half the words were static. “I’m not — do you think I’m a robot?”

“No!” Magnus protested, immediately countered with Taako shouting his own reply. 

“Yes! A friendly robot.”

“No, I’m a flesh boy.” Angus said, knowing how stupid it wounded the instant it left his mouth. As predicted, it just made the adventurers laugh harder. Angus tolerated a few more teasing lines from his friends before reminding them that the last time they called it had seemed like they were pressed for time. 

Merle caught on to his not so subtle attempt to end the call. “Oh I’m sorry, are we inconveniencing you while we were about to get blown up and burned up!”

Angus startled. “Blown up and burned up?” He squeaked, but they were no longer paying any attention to him. Taako let out one last goof before ending the call. 

“Yeah, sorry, if we don’t want to talk to you, you disappear from existence, ask anybody! That’s how it works.” 

“I don’t think that’s true sir,” He argued, but they were already gone. He shook his head fondly, and turned back to his book, feeling strangely settled. He had no clue why he loved those weirdos, but he sure did. 

He’d barely finished the page before his stone was ringing once more. He was starting to wonder if giving them his frequency had been a mistake. They’d only had it a day and had already called three times. That was excessive, right? He was fairly new to stone ownership so he couldn't be sure, but it felt excessive. 

“Angus.” Magnus said immediately. 

“Yeah? What’s up?” Oh well, even if they did keep calling, it was making his life more interesting. 

“I want you to just stay on the channel and listen.”

“Yeah, okay, that’s great. Um, what are you doin’?”

“Uh, there’s like a robit who’s asking us questions, and I want you to—”

The young detective perked, excitement coursing through him. “Oh, like a puzzle game! That’s my favorite!” This really was turning out to be an incredible Candlenights. 

“Yeah, I thought that might be the case.” Magnus said, sounding fond in a way that made Angus smile. 

A robotic voice sounded, and Angus jumped. Was that the robot that supposedly sounded like him? He didn’t- okay, he got it. He felt a flush of nerves, well aware of how embarrassing it would be if he didn’t get the answer to this one. Luckily, it was a pretty easy spelling question that he was able to answer right away. 

He was feeling pretty good about the whole situation, until the robotic voice let out a horrifying “Please wait. Error detected.”

Magnus cursed with a flat vehemence that sent a burst of terror into Angus’s heart. 

The robot continued. “External communication detected. The three of you aren’t cheating, are you?”

The group all denied it immediately, other than Merle of course, but it seemed not to matter as a horrifying noise filled the room. Angus gasped, hunched over the stone in the empty room. “Hey, guys, is something going—” Something was wrong, the sounds from the stone were oscillating in and out, fading and growing fuzzy before going back to normal over and over. 

“Guys is something happening? I can’t understand you! Something is wrong with the stone. Please answer, oh no no no, please answer.” The stone had grown dark and silent. 

Angus clutched his stone of farspeech with cold, numb hands as shock and horror pooled in his stomach. He tried to call back. He tried again. Again. Again. 

There was no reply. Tears streamed down his face in his horror. No, he'd…. He'd failed them. No, he hadn't just failed them, something he'd done had directly endangered them. Some kind of quiz robot was attacking them and it was all his fault. His breath began coming out in frantic, panting gasps as he began to sob. It was all his fault. He was just trying to help, he thought he was helping and look what his help had done. He called, again and again. They were in trouble. They could be dead now and it was all his fa- 

“Go for Magnus.” They finally answered, the fighter sounding as casual as if they saw each other on the street. 

The adventurer's voice brought out a new wave of tears, the relief somehow more overwhelming than his panic. 

"I'm so sorry!" He wailed, "I-I was just trying to help, but I-I messed up and you- you guys could have died and-" his words came out in a frantic rush regularly interrupted with frantic gasps and small sobs, not processing Magus's attempts to interrupt him. 

"A-Ango!" The man's words finally came through. "Calm down! Slap yourself!" 

"Stick your face in some spaghetti!" Taako ordered, and that request was odd enough that it broke through.

"I-sniff- I'm not going to do that, sir." He said, a small tear-stained chuckle following his words. 

“C’mon kid, do it for the vine.”

Angus ran a hand over his face to wipe away his tears. “ I’m so glad— I’m so glad that the three of you are alright…”

“Can you put an adult on the phone?” Magnus asked. 

“No sir, I don’t have one of those.” Angus answered immediately. “So that robot…” 

“Yeah, no, he’s dead. He’s dead, it’s fine.” Magnus answered immediately. 

Merle quickly agreed. “He blowed up. He blowed up real good.” 

“We got it.” 

“Oh, thank goodness. Okay. Well, b— I, I love you, bye!” And he closed the call, taking a few moments to settle his quickly beating heart before going to pour himself another cup of coco. He hoped that their mission went okay. Just in case, he kept the stone by his bedside the entire night. 

* * *

Later that night, when Taako, Magnus, and Merle were preparing to join Angus in slumberland, Maureen's gem tumbled to the ground, and a voice spoke into the empty room. "I saw all of existence all at once. I saw a dark storm, a living hunger eating it from within. But I saw a brilliant light heralded by eight birds, flying tirelessly from the storm. I saw eight birds: the Twins, the Lover, the Protector, the Lonely Journal-keeper, the Peacemaker, the Wordless One, and the Bird Who was Not Supposed to Fly. I saw eight birds."

* * *

Angus glanced around the train as he settled into his seat, but no one stuck out as particularly interesting. He pulled out his notebook to remind himself of every detail of this highly unusual case. 

Truthfully it was a conglomerate of several different missing persons cases, but with a twist. 

Nobody could remember the missing person. 

In most cases, you would think that it just meant there was no one missing, but the bonds between loved ones were hard to ignore. They knew that something was missing, found themselves turning to talk to no one, staring wistfully at an item whose origin they did not know. They all found each other somehow, shared similar stories and realized that they weren't alone. It wasn’t long before they started to seriously search for answers. Unfortunately, no matter how many people came forward, there just wasn’t enough evidence for most detectives. Even those who found the case compelling enough to take would often put it to the back burners as soon as a new case came along. 

Technically, Angus did too. He’d been looking into the case since shortly after the Rockport Limited, and had put it on pause for the Goldcliffe and Neverwinter cases, but he had more free time than most detectives. 

It helped that the whole thing was being very generously bankrolled. Angus had interviewed with the main contributor when he’d first taken the case. The dark elf had stacks and stacks of wedding planning notes, a gorgeously elaborate traditional elf wedding outfit, and a gorgeous engagement ring (spider-themed of all things) but could not remember even dating anyone recently, much less being engaged. 

Angus had called the elf first thing in the morning after candlenights to let them know his most recent discovery, and had a train ticket in his name almost immediately. Now he was on a several-hour long trip and had plenty of time to go over his notes. 

His most notable discovery was that while no one could remember anything about the ‘missing’ people, most of the members of the group could give a fairly accurate date to when things started feeling… off. He’d spent some time interviewing the members, as well as nearby townspeople and discovered that in almost every case, three strangers- an orc, a dwarf, and a dragonborn, had come into town shortly before the strange sensations happened. 

It was a bit of a stretch, but Angus knew that he was onto something when just a few days after he started asking more pointed questions, three individuals matching those descriptions had come looking for  _ him.  _

It was honestly beyond terrifying, especially as the detective in him desperately wanted to follow them to try and see what was happening. The survivor in him loudly argued against doing something that would most likely end in him being erased, and he’d been a survivor long before he became a detective. 

He’d been almost excited to lay down the case while he helped the Neverwinter Militia with the smugglers, it gave him time to lie low for a while. Now though, he was back with promising leads and a decent reward for discovering his first lead. 

His greatest disadvantage was also his best asset: his age. He made a point to ask people to avoid mentioning it if possible, knowing that he wouldn't get as many cases otherwise. That meant that the only thing this group of 3 knew about him was that he was a young detective named Angus, but adults sometimes had an odd way of looking at the word 'young'. If past events could act as precedents, they likely thought that he was someone just past the cusp of adulthood, not an approximate 10 year old. So with a fake name, he was practically invisible. He just needed to find out more about these three. 

The boy gathered up his items and carefully sorted them into his bag as the train pulled into his station. With no thief/murderer on the loose, he hadn't bothered to check his silverware, so he was on his way to the library while his fellow passengers were still in the customary hour-long wait. 

At the library he skipped up the steps and made his way straight to the 'literary stone-pals' section, where people could sign up to have their stone frequency listed with their favorite books in order to connect with other fans. 

Boyland had hundreds of kids. At least  _ one  _ of them had to like Caleb Cleveland. Or more than one, he amended as he saw a full page of names ending with 'Boyland', perfect.

Pulling out his stone, he scanned the list for someone his approximate age. He had to do some conversion for dwarf maturity rates, but eventually he found the name. Then he immediately felt foolish as he realized that all of the 'Boyland's had the same frequency listed, likely their home phone. 

Well, that was embarrassing. 

He dialed the frequency, bouncing on his feet as it rang. Finally, the gruff voice of a female dwarf sounded through the stone. 

"Hello, Boyland here." 

"Hello Ma'am," Angus chirped. "My name is A-my name is Arby Wendy's, a-and I found this frequency at the library on the Caleb Cleveland Stones 'n Stories program?" 

"Ah, a Cleveland fan, eh?" She asked, sounding much friendlier than when she had first answered the stone. "Well, we've got plenty of them around here. How old are ya, kid." 

"I'm a ten year old human, ma'am."

The dwarf hummed before yelling for the exact kid that Angus had calculated. Angus smiled, pleased that he was right even if it hadn't been necessary. There was a small muffled conversation Angus couldn't quite make out before a cheery voice called out, "Hi! Ohmygosh, I'm so excited, you're the first person who's called us! I'm Haddie!"

"Hi Haddie, I'm A-Arby. Nice to meet you, this is the first time I've done this too! I got a stone of farspeech as a candlenights present, and I really wanted to talk to other Cleve-fans." 

Haddie was friendly, excited, and personable. What's more, she had read nearly all of the Caleb Cleveland novels, the only exception being the Case of the Candlenights Caper, which they hadn't managed to get a copy of due to the smugglers. Angus found himself forgetting about the case as they enthused about the books together. Occasionally they were interrupted by one of her siblings, most of whom ended up sticking around when they realized what they were talking about. In what felt like no time at all, there was enough of a crowd on the other end of the line that it was getting hard for Angus to understand what was being said. 

Angus began carefully manipulating the conversation, changing the topics naturally until Haddie herself asked if he was from the area. “Oh, no. My parents are negotiating a business deal around here. It’s so annoying, all they do is sit in meetings all day long and talk about super boring stuff.” He sighed, just a hair away from being overdramatic. “Sometimes they’re at it for  _ weeks _ . None of the others who came to the negotiations have kids, so I’ll probably just stay in the library the whole time.”

The dwarf girl gasped. “You should come over!”

_ Score.  _ “Wha- Really? It’s getting a little late.” The train had arrived at about 3 in the afternoon, it was a little past 5 now. Not especially late, but late enough that it wasn’t a bad excuse. After all, it did start getting dark earlier this time of year.

“You can spend the night!”

_ Double Score.  _ “I wouldn’t want to impose, especially the day after candlenights. That would be awfully rude of me.” He grinned despite his words. That was perfect.

There was a spattering of denial from the listening group, all insisting that they would love to have him over, and Angus smiled to himself. He heard a few of them split from the group yelling that they would ask for permission. They returned less than a moment later, most of them claiming that they said yes, though a couple had follow-up questions for Angus. The detective was confused for a moment before remembering that in addition to having 400 sons and 13 daughters, Boyland had several wives and husbands. Boyland was the patriarch, but he had a large and varied family. It didn’t take too long before all permission had been granted, and Angus had an official invitation. The detective thanked them with an enthusiasm that he didn’t have to fake in the least, and promised to bring his new book with him.

It turned out that some of the older kids worked at a local restaurant, and Haddie promised to call them to pick him up after their shift and walk him to their house. Angus smiled when he hung up, going back to his notes. This wasn’t the first time he had used a trick such as this, but he had never been invited to a house with such an earnest and enthusiastic fan base. It was a shame that Mr. Boyland was likely disappearing people, otherwise this would be such a fun trip.

He used the waiting time to go over his notes again, both over Boyland and the strange disappearing case. As he did, he grew even more convinced that the dwarf, as well as the Orc and Dragonborn he was often with, was at least related to the case. He was fairly certain that the Dwarf wouldn’t recognize him with the fake name, but he would have to be extremely careful not to give anything away. He should have found a way to ask if their father was home, but, well, nothing to do about that now. He took a few moments to ask the Librarian if the rentable study rooms could be used for magic lessons (They could! He couldn’t wait to show Taako his wand, it had a pretty golden star on top and it fit his hand nicely, and-and he just loved it.) before finally making his way outside to wait on the steos. 

The dwarves that came to meet him were just as kind and jovial as their siblings. The walk to the Boyland residence was a bit of a trek, though it was easier for the hardy dwarves that made it every day than it was for Angus, who rarely engaged in much physical activity. They didn’t seem to mind though, their only complaint was a gentle jibe that they would be late to the dinner table and miss out on their Ma Vistra’s famous sweet potato casserole, though they assured Angus that they would have saved some for him since he was a guest.

They were still a few acres away from the house itself when they started seeing other Boyland children. None of them were Haddie, but it seemed 43 of the young dwarves had started a pre-dinner game of hide and seek. Many of the children's abandoned the game to join them and Angus got the impression that they didn’t have many guests. He supposed that made sense. It really was a very small town, one of the many stops along the train route instead of a destination, and they didn’t have much in the way of tourist attractions. Newcomers were likely an oddity. That could make it a problem if someone asked around for his parents, he noted in his mind. He would have to think of another excuse for that later as a precaution.

They were almost to the house when a loud, clear dinnerbell clanged, the sound echoing and so loud that Angus had to cover his ears. The dwarves laughed, though not meanly, and lead him to the biggest house that the boy had ever seen. It looked more like a school or a hotel, with hundreds of rooms, and with a living room that resembled an amphitheater. The dining room looked like a cafeteria, with food laid out on long serving tables so that they could be used buffet style. Angus was quickly beginning to feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of children, all of whom seemed to be interested in him. Not all of them were elves, either. There was a teenage teifling and an elementary school orc, both of whom towered over the others. Angus was pretty sure he saw a couple halflings, gnomes, and humans in the mix, each treated no differently than the hundreds of dwarf children. It seemed as though the Boylands adopted children and accepted them into their family, which was a very kind thing to do.

Haddie somehow found a way to force herself to where Angus was being swarmed by her siblings and drug him over to meet Mrs. Vistra Boyland. The dwarf’s voice indicated that she was not the Mrs.Boyland that he had spoken to on the phone, but she was wearing a stained apron and a large smile. She greeted Angus with a firm handshake, saying that she had held off dinner a bit so it would be fresh when he got there. A pair of twin boys who seemed a bit older than Angus stood behind her in equally stained aprons, proudly pointing out items that they had helped make. Haddie led him around the room after that to introduce him to the other parents, who each greeted the boy differently, but all with kindness and warmth. There seemed to be no distinction between who was whose actual child, they all were Ma and Pa, all one family.

In seemingly no time, Angus was seated beside Haddie at one of the several long tables, with a plate heaped full of food that was exceptionally filling and delicious. It was so… domestic, peaceful and homey in a way that Angus had long envied but never experienced. Around him siblings argued, chatted, joked and teased. The whole room was a chaotic roar of conversation and dinner. Angus felt his cheeks hurting from the width of his smiles as he fell into conversation shockingly easily. Even when, nearly finished with dinner, he remembered that he was technically on a case, the words flowed naturally.

Two of the siblings had broken out into an argument and the others were watching with rapt attention, so Angus took the moment to scour the room with a less dazed and more discerning eye. Nearly every table was packed with children and the occasional adult dwarf. The tables with the youngest children all had at least one parent supervising, and the buffet tables that had initially looked seconds away from buckling under the weight of food were already completely empty. At the opposite side of the room from the buffet tables there was one table that had actual chairs rather than benches that the others had, and at it’s head was an ornately decorated chair that sat empty.

Haddie must have noticed his scrutiny. “Oh,” She said with a full mouth, then worked quickly to chew before speaking. “That’s Dad’s chair.”

“Dad, not pa?”

“Mmhm.” A slightly older dwarf answered since Haddie’s mouth was full once more. “Dad is the original Boyland, ma’s and pa’s took his last name. He’s working now, but we all take turns sitting with him at the table when he’s here. He’s the  _ best. _ He- he always makes time for us, and never mistakes the twins for each other, and sometimes he brings home ice cream or doughnuts! We’re going on a big family camping trip in a few weeks. Thrak and Mirk have been teaching themselves different ways to start fires for weeks.”

“What he means is that they’ve been setting fires for weeks. Ma Hatrina has started following them around with a bucket of water.” Haddie added. Angus laughed, and risked asking another question about ‘Dad’. The Boylands were all more than willing to indulge him, each speaking of their father with the utmost admiration as they described his volunteer work, how encouraging he was, how he helped them with schoolwork and clubs. In short, Boyland sounded like an incredible person. If anything were to happen to him, it should affect those in the vicinity in a profoundly strong emotional way.

Angus was starting to doubt that the man was related to the disappearances at all, but as Haddie drug him to the amphitheater of a living room, he decided that it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if he stuck around to investigate just a little longer.

After insisting that he didn’t mind experiencing the story for a second time -Angus often reread the Cleveland books to pick up on foreshadowing that he’d missed- the human boy handed the book to a teenaged dwarf who looked as excited about the book as Haddie had been. Other children clustered around in nearby couches, bean bag chairs, and armchairs. One of the kids explained that when they tried to share the books it had just started fights over who would get them next, so they would just have one of the older kids read the books to the group as a whole. Sometime Boyland himself would read the books, apparently he did fantastic voices, but since he wasn’t home Grolf would do it.

It was… an experience. The reader would stop after every chapter and they would have something like a book club as kids gave their theories or remarked on funny lines or references to other books. Angus had to fight not to give away spoilers, but was able to get into a rather heated debate over whether or not the nerdy necromancer was actually a callback to Caleb Cleveland and the Death Defying Deal or not. Angus maintained that he was right even as Grolf called for silence so that he could start the next chapter.

They got a third of the way through the book that very night, and it was a night full of laughter and arguments and gasps of discovery. Angus only thought about the case once for the rest of the evening, the thought flitting around his head as he fell asleep, that maybe it would be a good idea to extend this particular branch of the investigation.

* * *

Angus practically skipped as he waved goodbye to the older boyland kids at the door to the library. After getting “permission” from his parents, he’d stayed at the Boyland house for over a week, but Taako had finally called him about the magic lessons he’d mentioned so they were meeting at one of the study rooms. Rather than go alone, he’d decided to walk with the kids who were going into town to work. They promised to come get them on their way back, and Angus was still grinning as he stopped by the magic theory books to do some light studying before Taako arrived since he was a few hours early. 

Haddie and his other new friends had been suitably amazed and interested when he’d mentioned going to meet his magic tutor, and promised to help him practice. Angus wasn’t sure what they could do beyond watch him try to do spells, but he wanted to have  _ something  _ to show them.

He was bouncing on the first steps when the elf arrived. “Hello sir! It’s magic day, magic day.” He grinned brightly, running to the elf as soon as he spotted him.

The elf gave him a long look. “I am already regretting this.” He turned as though to leave.

Angus yelped and ran to get in front of the elf, ushering him back towards the building. “Oh , I’m sorry, I can tone it down if you’d like, I’m just excited to begin my magic. My magic adventure into the, into the arcane arts!”

“Okay, alright.” Taako said as Angus herded his tutor into a study room. “Let’s calm down a little bit.”

Angus noted that despite the elf’s words, he made no attempt to actually leave or keep from going into the room.

“What kind of spells am I gonna learn today?” The detective asked with just as much enthusiasm as he’d had earlier.

The wizard shook his head, hat bouncing slightly as he did so. “No spells today, the first day isn’t about spells. It’s about the spells you don’t learn. How many spells don’t you know?”

Angus blinked. “All of them?” He offered hesitantly.

“Mmm, good start, all—”

Suddenly nervous that he’d seemed like he hadn’t tried hard enough, as though that would make Taako leave when the elf seemed to exceed at not trying especially hard, Angus blurted “I mean, I know all about the principles of arcane interaction and sort of the different schools of magic and how they behave, I’ve done a lot of studying up. But for some reason I just can’t seem to get the dang magic to come out!”

“Sure, here’s your first problem: what is this you’re holding here?” Taako gestured at the wand in Angus’s death grip.

“My magical wand?”

“Yeah, what is this you have, where did it come from?”

“I bought it from the proceeds of a case that I had solved!”

Taako looked genuinely confused. “We didn’t pay you, did we?”

“No, it was a different case, one that didn’t completely make it into the chapter, but it was a whole little-little campaign of one.”

Taako seemed to dismiss the boy’s words. “Okay. See, the problem is, a lot of people get wands and they think, “Well, magic time, baby,” like starting a car, but really a wand is just a conduit for the magic that has been inside  _ you _ all along.”

“Wow,” Angus said, stars in his eyes as he mentally tried to find the ‘magic’ in him. “That’s wonderful!”

Taako proceeded to command that Angus put down the wand, which Angus did with the utter utmost care and delicacy. He placed the wand onto the table as though it could shatter at the merest though. Once it was safe on the study room table he turned back to the wizard.

“So, the first thing is: what if you don’t have your wand? Well that’s a good question, it’s on the table right? So you don’t have it. So here’s, here’s the first spell I’m going to teach you, are you ready?”

“Yes sir!” Angus chirped, the fear he’d felt as setting down his wand immediately overshadowed by excitement.

“Mage Hand!”

Angus felt a burst of excitement. He’d heard of that one. It was a fairly simple conjuration cantrip. Taako began explaining what Mage Hand was, and Angus couldn’t help but butt in, saying that he knew a bit about the cantrip. Almost immediately he flushed with mortification. This is why his teachers at the orphanage hadn’t liked him. He never did have an easy time with just listening when something popped into his mind.

Of course, knowledge is not the same as skill. Taako walked him through the spell, and Angus enthusiastically followed the motions, just to stare at empty hands for ten minutes that felt like ten years. Finally though, to Angus’s joy and amazement something started to form. His heart beat in amazement as something blue was conjured out of thin air, taking shape. It was… it was… it was  _ hideous. _

Angus shrieked as a tiny spectral hand formed between his palms, with only a single finger. The finger was deformed and gnarled, and the hand started twitching and seizing as though in tremendous pain. Angus yelled again.

Taako, in perfect agreement, jumped onto the seat of a chair shrieking, “Kill it! Kill it!”

“What did I make?” Angus asked, horrified.

“Angus, kill it! Dude, stab it with something!”

The boy looked around, but it was the study room of a library, there was nothing to stab with. He caught sight of a large magic tome he’d been looking through earlier and grabbed it, the book so large that he could barely get his hands aroung it.

“Heck yeah little man, smoosh that thing!”

Angus lifted the book above his head and brought it crashing down over the atrocity. He sighed in relief as it dissipated into smoke. “That was terrible!”

Taako disagreed. “That was great! That’s a— you did a nothi— you did a something out of nothing! That’s magic, baby.”

Angus perked up at that, his dying confidence renewed by his mentor’s enthusiasm. “That’s true. I’d like to make a full big hand though.” Angus bit his lip. He knew that Taako was much smarter and could be much kinder than the elf like to pretend, but he hadn’t expected the elf to be  _ this good  _ at teaching. “Hey Taako, can I ask you a question?”

“Yeah, sure!”

“Who taught you how to do magic?” The answer was much deeper, much heavier than he could have expected. Almost completely devoid of goofs, Taako’s story was sad for many reasons, but mostly for the reason that Angus could most relate to. Until very recently, until meeting Merle and Magnus, Taako had been all alone. Someone on a stage, surrounded by people who praised his skill, but still all alone. And then he lost even that. Angus knew loneliness. Maybe that was why he understood Taako so well.

An uncomfortable distressed silence followed the admission, until Angus offered “Do you want to kill my next Mage hand if it’s as bad as the first?”

The elf cackled and started sharpening pencils in anticipation of stabbing. “Don’t worry Bubbelah, it will be.”

They spent the rest of the day in that room, conjuring up mage hands with varying levels of horror and various numbers of fingers. Much to his amazement, Angus managed to make a fairly competent hand by the time Taako decided that he’d been hanging around long enough. He practiced a few more times alone before the rest of the kids finished work, and he proudly made a perfect hand with fully functioning fingers before leaving for the night. The boy would have liked to claim that he had some sort of natural talent, but he knew for a fact that a good deal of his success lay with his teacher. Taako was incredible. A fact which Taako seemed completely aware of, as he claimed that Angus shouldn’t be late for their next lesson in a few days.

* * *

For a week or so, things continue peacefully. He practiced his magic surrounded by Boyland kids. Thrak and Mirk insist that he try a fire cantrip afterwards, and in less than two weeks after starting his lessons, he had a spell to show Taako that he’d learned all on his own!

It really was very kind for the elf to come down so often to teach him. Angus couldn’t really pay the elf, but maybe he could do something to kind for him in return.

Angus ran to the kitchen, where Mrs. Vistra was kneading dough for the next morning’s bread. “Hello Mrs.Vistra, would it- I’m sorry to other you, but could I use your kitchen to bake something.”

The kindly dwarf smiled at him, though she paused to correct one of the kid’s knife techniques before making her way over to the human boy. “Of course Angus, come over here and I can show you the baking supply closet. Do you know what you want to make? I’ve got a recipe book that fantasy Julia Child would envy.”

“Thank you Ma’am. I think I know, a friend told me the recipe and I’m sure I can remember it.”

The dwarven woman let out a dismissive noise. “Pah, you can stop with all this Mrs, Ma’am nonsense. Call me Ma, just like everyone else.”

Angus blinked, catching everything that went unsaid with that. “I-I uh, I’m not sure-“

“We noticed that you stopped pretending to call your parents.” She said, opening one of the many pantries and revealing it to be full of flour, baking soda, sugar, ect. “I’m not sure how you got the wand or the magic lessons, and it’s none of my business. With the way you and the other kids carry on, you’re basically family already. I know Boyland would absolutely love you. I won’t push, but know that you’ve got a place here, ‘f that’s something you’d like. Our family always welcomes anyone who needs it."

Proving her words true, the dwarf gave the boy a soft hug but didn't push any further and left the cabinet. Angus stood alone in the baking supply closet with his mind whirling and his heart turning over in his chest. 

He… he hadn't expected that. How obvious was he? Could they see how he'd conned his way into a sleepover? He had stopped pretending to call for permission, but he'd thought they wouldn't notice. It had been weeks though, no normal kid would go this long without even seeing their parents even once would they? Did they catch the times he forgot to respond to Arby? Did they notice that he only had 3 sets of clothes? How much had he been found out? 

Why didn't bother him that he'd been caught? 

He stood frozen for a long few moments, hearing in his mind an echo of the dwarf's invitation, seeing the random spattering of non-dwarf kids running around the property, feeling the weight of the other children on his sides as they sat in a cluster as Grolf read the book. 

He… could he really… have this? Had he been alone so long when this had just been sitting here? He hadn't thought about leaving in a while, his only acknowledgements of the passing of time were the occasional calls to the patron from the group with the missing people, calling to let them know that 'the suspect' hadn't been home in several days. (Actually, Boyland hadn’t been home since Angus had arrived. None of the kids found it especially odd, so it must be fairly common for him to be gone for large stretches of time) He could still be a detective, someday, but maybe-maybe he could just… rest for a bit, grow up a little. 

The boy shook his head. He could figure that out later. He pushed the thoughts out of his mind and replaced them with his memory of shopping with Taako the day before candlenights. He had baking to do. 

Still, as the boy grabbed the supplies, he felt lighter than he had in a long time. 

* * *

Angus’s cheeks hurt from how hard he was grinning as he stood in front of his mentor, a small flame sitting on the palm of his hand.

“That is awesome. Congratulations, Agnes.”

A flood of contentedness rushed through the boy. He felt like he might burst with happiness and pride. “ T-thank you sir!”

“You have done an amazing job. You know, if you keep it up, then someday you might be a better wizard than I am!”

At the moment that felt both impossible, because of Taako’s magic skill, and readily attainable, because of Taako’s teaching prowess. “Tha—that’s very kind of you to say, I hope—” suddenly the boy yelped as he wall pulled into the air by his lapels, hauling him up until Angus’s face was just centimetres from Taako’s. The elf locked eyes with the suddenly terrified child.

“And when that day comes, little man, oh, when that day comes… I will summon whatever powers I still have at my disposal, that you have not siphoned away from me, and I will take all of my canny and all of my cunning and all arcana still within my reach, and I will use it to  _ strike you down _ . Little man, don’t ever,  _ EVER _ , again challenge my power.” So this was it. This was how he died, Angus had always been curious. However, after a long, long, long uncomfortable moment Taako laughed. “It’s a monologue I’m working on, Agnes, sorry, that wasn’t actually directed at you. That’s from a one-man show I’m doing.”

Angus laughed nervously, squirming until Taako let him down. “O-oh okay, so that was just from your play acting then, sir.” That was- that was not Angus’s  _ favorite  _ goof. Though, it was possibly slightly better than keep away.

Maybe.

The elf laughed. “You peed your loincloth there Agnes! I know you got a little suit. Peed Your Loincloth is the name of the show. You Peed Your Loincloth, it’s the name of the show I’m working on.”

Angus attempted to join the goof, per usual, but something about it had him genuinely spooked so he stammered “C-can I get t-tickets?”

“Oh, can’t you just conjure them, Mr. Wizard? Mr. Big Tough Magic Boy?”

Angus squirmed, feeling the corner of the box of macaroons digging into his back. “This is kind of, uh, uncomfortable now.” Death threats to giving presents in two minutes flat. Why did this seem less weird than it should. Oh no, was he getting used to these guys? 

He pulled out the box. He’s spent a long time decorating it, he’d even tied a pretty ribbon around it. He handed it to the elf and watched with bated breath as Taako tore off the ribbon in his haste to see what the present was. The elf stared at the macaroons for a beat, his ears perked straight up in surprise.

Angus cleared his throat and drew the wizard's attention back to him. “I made th-these for you, sir. To thank you for the magic lessons.”

“Oh sweet! Thank you so much, Agnes. I am going to enjoy these, up… in uh, on the ****.” 

Angus felt his heart drop. “Y-you don’t wanna eat one right now, sir?” He asked hopefully. He’d worked so very hard on them, had made a mess of Ma- uh, Mrs. Vistra’s kitchen. He’d really wanted Taako to like them. 

“Yeah sure, I’ll eat one right now, why not. Only going around once, right?” The elf took a bite, and Angus watched his expression with rapt attention, reading it for any hint at the chef’s impression of the treat. 

As his teeth sunk into the crisp-but-chewy cookie, the elf had a surprised but pleased expression. As he chewed the surprise became confusion, and by the time he swallowed his expression was no longer pleased. 

“It’s fine. It’s just fine.” Taako said, voice as bland as Angus had feared the macaroons would be. 

The boy deflated. He knew it had tasted a bit off. In his defense, he hadn’t gotten any of Taako’s macaroons, so he hadn’t been completely sure what they were supposed to taste like. And he’d been too embarrassed after his conversation with Ma- darn it  _ Mrs.  _ Vistra to ask her to try them. “I-I know I probably… I probably goofed up on the flavor profile, a bit.”

“I’ll tell you what, you got the texture exactly right, and really with a macron that’s, that’s the hard part. You gotta make sure to rise, one thing that might help is if you give the pan a little shake after you actually dollop out the meringue you can remove some of these peaks. And also sugar, any sugar— at all. Would be great.” 

Angus flushed a furious red as he ran through his memories of the night before. He’d never even gotten the sugar out of the pantry. “Dang, that was it. Yep.” He perked then, always eager to turn a failure into a learning opportunity, he tried to convince the elf to teach him prestidigitation by making the cookies actually, you know, taste good. Hopefully, that might even help the elf to start trusting his magic around food again. It was just prestidigitation after all. There was no way it could cause something seriously harmful, and it could be the first step at helping Taako get back to doing something that he loved. It would be a small part to thank the elf for helping him learn something that he loved. 

It took a bit of wheedling and puppy-dog-eyes (which were decently effective on Taako though Angus knew the elf would deny it to his dying breath), but eventually Taako agreed. 

He gave a basic explanation of the spell and ran through how it was performed, then flicked his Umbra staff casually at the small cardboard box of cookies sitting on the study room desk. 

Fire erupted from the staff, and Angus yelped and pulled a nearby book up to cover his face as Scorching Ray arched through the room and decimated the cookies. The spell was so powerful that Taako stumbled back a few steps and had to hold onto his spellcasting arm with his off hand just to prevent the recoil. 

Angus gaped at the hole where there had once been a desk. “Well, uh, okay, I can understand if you didn’t like them sir, but that’s all you had to say. You didn’t have to burn ‘em all up.” He offered hesitantly, not entirely sure if it was goof. 

Taako looked just as shaken. “No, it— I— that’s not what I cast.” Suddenly the elf jumped as Scorching Ray burst through the staff again, the umbrella almost pulling him until his arm was stretched out in front of him. 

Angus watched with wide, amazed eyes as, seemingly with a mind of it’s own, the umbrella carved and scorched letters into the wall. L… U...P… 

Taako looked like he was just holding onto his composure, eyes darting back and forth between the staff and the smoking wall. “Why? What does that—what is “L U P”?

Angus wasn’t sure, but as he pulled out his special notebook he had to grin. 

“Sir, I appreciate the magic lessons, but it sounds like you’ve just given me an even better gift. A new mystery to solve!”

Taako cursed and they spent a few long moments staring at the wall as smoke slowly drifted into the air. Finally the elf cleared his throat. “You do know we can never come back to this library, like ever again, right?” 


	5. The Eleventh Hour and Even More Dwarf Children (Lunar Interlude)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the comments!! I'm glad you guys liked the Boyland family so much! I had a lot of fun writing them.   
> Beware: Angst is ahead... After all, Boyland.... 
> 
> Hope you enjoy! Please keep commenting!! I love seeing people's reactions, ideas, and theories!!!

Angus woke up early the next day and immediately jumped off the bunk bed that he had been using, careful not to wake any of the sleeping dwarves. His new mystery was fresh in his mind. It would be nice to focus on something new, especially since the mystery that brought him here was going so slowly. He wasn’t sure why it was so hard to… to… huh. 

Why did he come here?

He couldn’t remember why he was… here. That wasn’t like him. No, that’s not right, he’s just been thinking about the case yesterday, when Ma Vistra had given him her invitation. Now, it was like the thoughts were falling through a sieve in his mind. 

Angus snuck back into the bedroom and grabbed his backpack, pulling out his notebook and glancing through the most recent pages. 

It was just like he’d thought, he was last working on the strange disappearing people case, and was following up on a lead that described some unusual people hanging around right before the disappearances happened. By why was he  _ here _ ? This was clearly not the home of Carey Fangbattle or the orc Killian. There were some more notes, but he must have been hurrying or being sneaky when he wrote them, because they were completely illegible. 

Angus bit his lip as he heard the sounds of people nearby waking. He needed some time alone to try to think through this. The boy started heading outside, intending to go to a nearby glen that Haddie had shown him, no one should bother him there until after breakfast. However, as he walked past the dining room, he saw the familiar figure of Ma Vistra standing in front of the large ornate chair no one had explained to him.

Something about the way she stood indicated tension, unease, and Angus found it hard to ignore the distress of someone who had been so kind to him. “Um, Ma’am, are you alright?” 

The dwarf jumped, as though she had been pulled out of deep thought. “Oh! Arby, no… no I’m fine.” She shook her head. “I thought I told you to drop this ‘ma’am’ nonsense.”

“Oh, um…” He had in his head, but it felt like doing so out loud was taking a huge step that he just wasn’t sure enough about yet. “Sorry. Are you sure you’re okay.” 

The short woman sighed and ran a washcloth over the chair. “Yeah, kiddo, I’m fine. I just… I can’t remember why we have this chair, this whole table set up here really. Like, I remember an old family friend carving it for us, but I don’t remember why. And I can’t remember why it’s always empty. Something about it makes me… wistful though. I feel like I’m missing something. Eh, don’t mind me. I’ve just got a bit of a headache, nothing a bit of mint tea won’t fix.”

Angus looked between the dwarf and the chair. It felt like his mind was working through mud, like the thoughts were forcing themselves out of his mind. He worked through it, face scrunched in thought as he put all of the pieces together. He had come to this home as part of his missing persons case, he could no longer remember why he had come. He could no longer read the notes he took that would have explained it. He’d never had so many notes written that badly before, it seemed more likely that there was another reason why he couldn’t read them. There was a chair here that didn’t fit the rest of the room, and no one knew why. Ma Vistra said the chair made her feel wistful. Many of the people from his Missing Person case had said similar things.

It felt like there should be an obvious conclusion for all of these deductions, and certainly once he realized it, it seemed obvious, but the boy was sitting at a table staring at his notes for several minutes before he was able to force the deduction to mind. Someone, and he couldn’t remember who, but whoever he had come to investigate had been erased.

He sighed in relief as he finally made the realization, his head pounding from his attempts to fight through whatever strange, strong magic was preventing him from understanding. It almost felt like it did when he tried to understand Taako, Magnus and Mele- and as soon as he had that thought, it slipped from his mind into the void as so many other thoughts had. 

For a moment he wanted to chase it- though he couldn’t remember what thought he was chasing- but instead he forced himself to his feet and into the kitchen, where Ma Vistra was attacking a blob of dough with a rolling pin, tears in her eyes. 

“Oh, sorry Arby.” She said with a sniffle. “That wistful feeling made me think of doughnuts, so I thought I’d make some for breakfast, but the feeling just got worse.” 

Angus took a deep breath. A part of his heart rebelled, rallying against coming out with the truth, a truth that would no doubt change everything. At the very least, he knew he woulsn’t be able to take her offer. The rest of him though… the rest of him knew that the truth was important. “My name isn’t Arby, and I’m not… who you think I am. My name is Angus McDonald, and I am a detective. I was hired to investigate a… phenomenon I suppose, in which several people felt as though someone was missing, but could not remember anything about them, or if they even existed. There have been dozens of similar cases, and… and I think it happened here. I came here as part of my investigation. I can’t remember why anymore, but I think that someone here was either a suspect, or a potential victim.”

“Who?” The dwarf asked. 

“Whoever used to sit in that chair, whoever liked doughnuts, whoever you’re missing that you can’t remember.” The dwarf looked at Angus in horror, and a bit of relief. It was terrifying to think that someone you loved could be taken from you so completely, but it was nice to have at least something of an explanation. “I can get you in contact with the people who hired me. They have a support group, and can keep you up to date about how the case is doing.”

The boy thought of the warmth of the home, the easy familial attitude of each member, the love that they so freely shared. “You don’t deserve this. I will do what I can to make sure that you get answers.”

The woman took a deep, shuddering breath. “Thank you, Ar- Angus. I- I’ll tell my spouses, but please don’t say anything to the other kids yet.” 

“I won’t, ma’am. I think… I think it's time for me to move on anyway. I really appreciate your offer yesterday, and in a different world I wouldn’t hesitate, but… “

“But the time isn’t right, is it? You’ve got a lot to do out there.”

“I do.” The boy replied, voice tight. 

“Stay for breakfast, I’ll have some food packed for you, for your travels. I-  _ thank you.  _ If you hadn’t been here… I would have still been crying into my dough, convinced I was going crazy. You’ve always got a place here, if you want it. Even if… whoever is never found, you’ve got a place here. Always.” 

Angus nodded sharply. “I appreciate it, Ma’am.”

He left the room on stiff legs. He wasn’t sure what his face was doing, but it must have been bad given the stares he was getting. He hurried outside and pulled out his stone. Taking a deep breath, the detective called his patron.

“Hello, Angus is that you? Do you have good news for me?” An elven voice answered. 

“I- Not really, I apologize.”

“Hmm, you can’t control the news you give, and I’d much rather you give bad news than sit on it. What’s your status?” 

“I… well, first, do you remember how many suspicious people I said would be seen around the time of the disappearances.”

“Hmm, I believe you said three, though you didn’t give me much more information than that.” 

Angus took a deep breath. That confirmed it. “I think one of them has been erased. The one I was investigating. I don’t remember why I’m here, and half of my notes are incomprehensible. I can only remember two suspects. It happened right in front of me. I don’t even remember if I met them or not.” 

“Oh my. Well, you called yesterday to say that they hadn’t been seen. So if you saw them, they were erased on the same day.” 

“I think- I think I had been staying with their family. I passed on your contact information, one of them should be contacting you soon. It’s a big family, 413 kids and several adults. They- they’re good people.” 

The elf made a wordless soothing noise and Angus pushed off the funk. This was not the time to be a scared kid, even if he was one. This was a time to act like a professional. 

“I think that this proves that I am onto something. The two- I mean three- people that I was suspicious of are related to the disappearances.” The elf made a noise of agreement and Angus steeled himself to do something difficult. Professional, he would be professional. “I think I need to remove myself from the case.” 

“What? What are you talking about, you have gotten further than any other detective I’ve tried to hire. You’re doing fantastically. This is a setback, but not a failure. I-”

“No no! It’s not that, it’s just… whoever is doing this, they must know that I’m onto them. First, the two-  _ three,  _ sorry- show up in a town looking for me, then the main one that I’m investigating disappears so that I can’t remember anything I learned. I’m on their radar now. If they had erased  _ me  _ instead, then… then you would forget all of this.” 

That was really why he couldn’t stay. He was giving up the case, he didn’t need to leave, but he couldn’t stand the thought of seeing his friends every day, knowing that someone had been taken from them because he had been meddling. “You- you all deserve to get answers, and if all of my information disappears with me, you’ll never get it. I think- I think I’m in danger of that if I keep going as I am. You need several detectives, as a contingency plan. I will send you all of my notes, if you send them out then you’re sure to get some responses. Use my name, I am fairly well respected in my field, that should get some attention. Besides, I don’t have many connections with Orcs or Dragonborns, and they tend to be more insular. There are other detectives with better resources to investigate those two. I… I don’t want to give up on this case, especially not now, but- but I’m scared that if I don’t, it will never be solved. This is too important.” 

The patron was silent for several moments. Then, finally, “I understand. It is… unfortunate, but I think that you’re right. They seem to be aware of your progress, and that is incredibly dangerous, for  _ you  _ as well as the investigation. I cannot say how much we appreciate all that you have done for us.” 

“It’s my job. Please just… please be kind to the Boyland family. They were extremely kind to me.” 

“Boyland? That’s an interesting name.” 

“Yeah, I think it’s an old family name or something? I’m not sure, I never learned the origin.” 

“Hmm, well I can assure you that they will be welcome with open arms.” 

“Thank you.” Angus said sincerely. “I’ll send you some names of detectives that I recommend along with my notes once I can get them copied.” 

“Most libraries will have a scribe or wizard who can copy things.” 

“Oh I, uh, I’m not exactly welcome in the local library anymore. It’s, uh, it’s a long story.” 

“Well, I suppose you can’t complain about a boring life, can you Angus?” 

“No, no I cannot.” 

“I look forward to meeting your friends. Please, lay low and stay safe. I will keep you up to date as the case continues, and I’m sending you a bonus for confirming that people really are disappearing.” 

“Oh that’s not necessa-” 

“Don’t tell me how to conduct my business kid.” The elf ended the call and Angus took a moment just to breathe. He felt terrible, like he was giving up just because of a scare, but he wasn’t going to risk this case just to help his pride. It was too risky. He gave himself a few more seconds to be heartbroken, and returned to the dining room with an expression that was still sad, but was not as entirely devastated as it had been.

His friends locked onto his sadness immediately, and he made the excuse that his parents had called him early that morning and said that they had finished their deals so he would be leaving immediately after breakfast. The dwarves were sad to see him go, and he’d had to promise a hundred times to call and to come visit whenever he was in the area. He mentioned possibly stoppin in during the their camping trip, and had to stuff his face with a donut to keep from tearing up when no one knew what he was talking about.

Angus agreed and, after taking the goodie bag from a sadly smiling Vistra Boyland, set down the road alone, the working kids having left earlier. The path was familiar now, anyway. Somehow, he wasn’t as… sad as he thought he would be. It wasn’t like Klaarg, where he didn’t know if he would ever see them again. He knew he could call them that instant or in the next hour or in the next week, he knew he could return someday and be welcome. It was a… a see you later, rather than a goodbye. 

He could handle that. He was actually looking forward to telling Haddie and Grolf and the others about whatever new adventures came his way. Maybe someday he could get Ma Vistra’s donut recipe and show Taako. One of the Pa’s had reminded him so much of Merle, he could try introducing them. He had plans for when he returned. 

He couldn’t wait to go back. 

Since he was alone, the boy took the time to call the Neverwinter Postal and Scribal Office to ask them to go through his Fantasy PO box. A scribe pulled out his mail and read him the case requests in the mailbox, and Angus was happy to hear one from another dwarf town just a few stops away. Someone was raiding and desecrating the local temples, and the authorities thought that they may have a cult or something forming. 

It sounded interesting, and it was close enough that he could probably get the basics from the Militia officer in charge and still have time to go to the local postal office before it closed.

He thanked the scribe and called the frequency the captain had added to the bottom of the letter. The officer was thrilled to get a reply, apparently not many detectives would travel so far, even if they were a decently sized town. The officer gave Angus the bare bones of the case- which really sounded very interesting, Angus had never investigated a cult before!- and they agreed to meet in one of the destroyed temples. 

The detective found it difficult to sit still on the train. He had been excited about the case, especially since it had been so close. It gave him something to think about beyond leaving the dwarves. Now however, there was over an hour of just sitting and reflecting on his many many mistakes. 

Nope, not doing that. 

Instead, Angus pulled out his notebook and reviewed the notes he’d taken after Taako’s Umbra Staff had started acting up. The three letters spanned the entire top half of a page in his notebook, and under that he had scrawled a few notes about how the staff had seemed to blast the words themselves and how Taako hadn’t known what it meant. 

L.U.P., what did it mean? It could be an acronym. Lovers Under Peril, Last Unlucky People, Learn Underwater Prestidigitation, Learning from Unknown Planes. It was possible, but there were too many possible combinations. He’d keep it in mind but wait until he knew more to actually proceed. It could be the name of a location. Certain humanoids were known for making single-syllable town names, he’d heard of many that were similar to Lup. He would have to look at a map at the Library. If it was nearby, that would explain why the staff reacted. It could be a *n*a*m*e. The thought fled immediately in a way that was fast becoming frighteningly familiar, though some kind of mental block kept him from figuring out why. 

The boy frowned.  _ What  _ had he been thinking? If he couldn’t think about it, it could be significant. Or, it could just be part of the secret that Taako, Magnus, and Mele were all a part of, whatever the bracers were for. Still, he had a feeling that whatever he couldn’t remember, that was closest to the truth. 

Let’s see, he could remember thinking it was an acronym, and a place. The next option was that it could be a *n*a*m*e. He still, he just couldn’t nail it. 

Frowning, the boy made a note that ‘the forgetting thing’ happened, and moved on, hoping that he could attack it from another angle and find a way to make the thought stick. For the rest of the ride he entertained himself by trying to find longer words that had ‘lup’ in them. 

He didn’t come up with many. 

Any. He didn’t come up with any. 

He called the Milita captain as he left the train, and was informed that they had to finish dealing with a different petty crime, but that it should be fine for Angus to go ahead to the temples to start investigating, and she would catch up as soon as possible. 

Angus agreed, well used to that happening in the smaller towns he visited. This town was a good deal bigger than the one where the Boylands lived, but it would be barely considered a neighborhood in Neverwinter. He asked the station manager the way to the nearest temple and headed in the direction that the dwarf indicated. 

The temple truly had been trashed, sacraments and offerings had been scattered, pews toppled and slashed, there was even graffiti on the walls, mostly a repeat of the same symbol over and over. That did indicate that it could be a cult, they often latched onto symbolism like this. 

Carefully stepping around the wreckage to avoid disturbing the crime scene, Angus made his way to the desecrated altar. He picked up one of the candles and used his new magic skill to produce a flame to light it. He wasn't especially spiritual, no desire to be a warlock or cleric, but there was something very wrong about a god's sacred place being treated with such disdain. More than that, it wouldn't be polite or respectful to be snooping around without offering the temple's patron anything. 

Besides, Angus acknowledged as he placed the candle on the altar and bowed his head, he relied on luck a lot. It couldn't hurt to be in the good graces of the goddess of fate and destiny.

* * *

When Angus lifted his head, he was facing into a room much larger than the temple. Where the altar had been was now a series of steps leading to a pulpit, beyond which was a tapestry that seemed to stretch as far as his eyes could see. The tapestry was a masterpiece, filled with masterfully detailed embroidery depicting a city bustling with people of all species, race, gender, and ethnicity, all lovingly enveloped in the embrace of a kind-looking woman with flowing white hair. 

On the stairs in front of the pulpit, beside a basket of multicolored yarn, sat the woman from the tapestry. Her fingers were moving with starling speed, flying as she knit something from the yarn. Her hair, silvery blue-white, flowed out behind her and framed a kind face addressing Angus. 

The detective immediately knew whose presence he was in and fell to a bow kneeling on one knee. “Lady Istus, you-your highness- your godliness- your goddess-liness- It, uh, it is an honor to be- uh- to be in your presence.” He stammered. He wasn’t religious, but gosh dang it, this was an actual deity who had apparently summoned him, or he had summoned. He was going to be polite.

The woman laughed, the sound warm and light. It made shivers run up Angus’s arms, happy shivers that somehow calmed some of his nerves. 

“Angus, please stand up. There is no need to have such ceremony around me. Come, sit beside me.” Angus looked up with wide eyes and hesitantly went up the steps. He froze when the goddess paused in her knitting to hold up a hand. “Maybe sit a few feet that way. I am glad of your company, but we probably shouldn’t touch.” 

“R-right, because touching a god leads to- to boom.” Wow, Angus was being eloquent today wasn’t he? This was as bad as the train. If he said ‘Grandpa’ in the next five minutes, he may die of embarrassment. “I would very much like to avoid exploding.” That hadn’t been much better. 

“Yes, good point. We should try to avoid that.” 

“Right. Um, your goddessness, I, uh, I want you to know that I didn’t do… that.” He gestured at the destroyed temple. It was still visible, a fuzzy barrier separating the place Angus had been, and where he now sat with Istus. 

“Oh, oh don’t worry. I know. This wasn’t the best first impression I could have given. No. I know that you had nothing to do with this, but I also knew that you would come here, when I needed to speak with you. It’s all kind of part of the job.”

“You wanted to speak with me? Are you in need of a detective, Lady Istus?” 

“No, not I. Perhaps I should just explain. See, one of the benefits of being a deity is that you can be as enigmatic and vague as you want, and nobody can say anything about it because, hey it’s prophecy. Now, however, it would probably be best if I was direct. It’s odd, as the goddess of fate, to say that we don’t have much time but,” The woman shrugged. 

“O-okay your goddessness. Would it- would it be okay if I take notes?” 

“Of course, my boy.” She moved as though to ruffle his hair, then quickly jerked her hand back. “Right, no touching. Explosions. So, with most things, it can be very difficult to pinpoint when to begin an explanation, for a true beginning is very difficult to determine. As the goddess of fate and destiny, I know better than most how many hidden things must have already happened for there to be a beginning.” 

Angus watched the goddess with wide eyes, though he hadn’t taken any notes yet, since she hadn’t actually said anything. 

“This, however, has a very definite beginning. A little over a decade ago, I and my fellow pantheon noticed that there were several beings, a myriad of different humanoids, who were singularly unique and special. And of course, *****************.” 

As the goddess spoke, several sentences became nothing but a mix of indiscernible static. 

“I-I’m sorry.” He interrupted as he realized that she was going to continue talking. “I- I think that there is some sort of magic or something that prevents me from understanding that.” 

“What was the last thing you heard?” 

“Um,” He looked at the few notes that he had jotted down. “‘Humanoids who were singularly unique and special.” 

“You heard nothing after that, not even when I mentioned ******?” 

“No, I’m sorry.” 

“Nothing to apologize for, though that will make this more difficult. Well, to keep things to the matter at hand, these humanoids are just so special. In general, our existence is made up of countless realities where the same people are doing the same actions at the same time in parallel worlds throughout the echoes of creation— except for these individuals. These humanoids are the versions of themselves that there are. I see every possible reality as I weave fate, and have some sway over potions of it,” She waved the scarf on her needles. “But for these individuals, it is as though they weave themselves. I can only affect things around them, or meet with them directly.”

“That… sounds incredibly dangerous.” 

“It could be, but in reality most of these individuals have unknowingly been acting as my agents. You see, a mysterious power entered the world at the same time as them, the power to change fate and alter realities in ways that I cannot help.” She revealed more of the scarf, showing burnt patches, holes, tears, and areas where the string was grey and dead. “They are working to stop these forces, and have been doing so for several months now. I wish to ask you to agree to become my agent as well, though technically you would be even more official than them since I haven’t asked them yet. Certain… difficulties exist that make it difficult for you to be a direct agent, but I would like to appoint you as an auxiliary of sorts. You see, you… have met three of these individuals. Are you still with me? Good. I wasn’t sure because it seems you can’t hear me say that ******.”

“I didn’t get that last part.”

She sighed. “I thought not.”

“Is this… is the thing that is keeping me from understanding, is that one of the powers?”

“It is… different, but I doubt I could say more than that. Regardless, we must talk about the three that you know. They are dying.” 

“Taako, Magnus, and Merle are  _ dying _ ?” Angus scrambled to his feet. He’d deducted who she was talking about long before Istus had confirmed that he knew them,and fear shot through him at the goddess’s words.

“Oh, so you can understand their names, good. Yes, they are dying, over and over again. They are trapped in a town in which time, fate, and destiny have all been broken, tainted. The same hour is on a constant repeat, ending with a decimating explosion that kills them all. Then, time resets and they are… I won’t say resurrected, but they are no longer dead. Until they can find the power that is meddling in my domain, they will continue to do so in perpetuity.” 

“I- that’s terrible. How can I help?” He asked determinedly, straightening the straps of his backpack. 

“Come here, Angus. Do you see these strands?” Suddenly three pieces of yarn seemed to pop out amongst the others in her knitting. Angus wasn’t sure why they seemed significant, they were no larger, or smaller than the other strangs, and were identical in color and texture, but he was somehow more aware of them than any of the others. “They are your friends. And this strand,” She touched one and Angus felt a shiver run through him. “Is you.” He looked at the strand in awe, following its path through the garment. 

“I… I’m interwoven with them.” 

“Yes. Time and time again, fate has allowed your paths to cross, oftentimes in ways you do not or cannot know. Destiny has dictated that your paths will continue to cross. You are connected to them. Using this connection, the power given by the decree of fate and destiny, I can make it so that you can help them, so long as you are in my domain. There is a spell which allows a spellcaster to send a message to the mind of another. Like all spells, this one has its limitations, but… it just so happens that we are lucky enough to have the very elements that would allow me to circumvent them.” She winked and Angus, still utterly floored and confused, could only nod. 

Lady Istus grabbed her knitting and added a bit of new string, and suddenly a medallion with her divine symbol appeared in front of Angus’s face, he took it with surprisingly steady hands and nodded. 

He slipped the band around his neck. Let’s do this. 

* * *

Angus stood behind the tapestry with a hand over his mouth to keep himself from giggling. He’d spent the last several hours with Istus watching over the Taako, Magnus, and Merle. He’d helped them solve the puzzle with the lockers, and the much harder puzzle to get into the elevators. He’d given advice and help, scribed the seer’s prophecies into his notebook for further use, and overall just whispered whatever he thought would help into their minds. 

He’d also had to watch them die over and over again. It wasn’t the worst, because he knew that they would come back, but they still  _ died,  _ and his heart had given a pained pang every time it happened. It had felt strangely… familiar however. Familiar in a way that he didn’t have time to process. 

At last they’d spoken to the brothers and started the process of raising the temple of Istus. The goddess had immediately sent Angus a wicked grin and prompted him to hide, saying that ‘half the fun of being a deity was the drama of it all, if you’re going to make an entrance, why not make it a good one’. 

So, Angus was behind the tapestry, listening to Istus’s speal and the Adventurers’ goofs. A portion of her words had faded into static for him, but he understood enough to follow along as she explained the situation and offered them the medailians. As she started handing out gifts, Angus got ready. He peeked around a bit, startled, when he heard the crash of the clock falling and Lady Istus ask Magnust to throw something at the pulpit, you know the thing directly in front of the tapestry, but the human lands the hit and Angus actually gets to watch as the lance flies backwards through time and into the fighters hand.  _ Awesome.  _

“Now,” Istus said a bit louder than before. “I have one more gift for you. I have appointed another agent, one who is tasked with helping you in your task of keeping reality safe.”

“Please be Marty McFly.” Merle muttered just loud enough for Angus to catch as he stepped out from behind the tapestry. 

“Hello sirs!”

“That’s my dude!” Taako said, holding up a hand for a high five, which Angus did with a mage hand since he was still several yards away from the men. Taako gave the hand a pleased look, as though happy Angus had gotten so proficient with it. 

“Yep, it looks like we are going to be working pretty closely from now on.” 

Magnus turned on Istus, shaking with excitement. “Now we own Angus?” 

Angus blanched at the phrasing. “ Well, I dunno—”

The fighter continued. “I’ll add him to my inventory.” 

“I, uh, I wouldn’t say-” 

“One Angus.”

“I-I guess you’ve already been doing this, but if you have a question about something, or if I have any intel, it is now my top priority to help with this, assuming I understand what you’re talking about. 

“Good boy, Angus.” Magnus continued in baby talk. 

**“** Well, I’m not a dog, so—”

“Good boy!”

“Well, I have the medallion too, so technically I’m a co-worker. I would say that-” 

“You got bling too, little man?” Taako asked. 

“Yes sir!” Angus pulled out the necklace from where he had tucked it inside of his shirt. 

“Finally, at least you have one not-terrible thing in your wardrobe.” 

“I don’t know sir, I think that I had- that I had kind of established a style for myself and-” 

“Achem.” Lady Istus interrupted softly. “As nice of a reunion that this has been-”

“Has it though?” Merle asked. 

“-we don’t have much time left. Do you have any questions left for me?” 

Magnus raised his hand like a school child. “Like, where’s Isaak? Where’s June? Where’s the chalice?”

Angus jumped in to answer. “Those items should be in the room that had the seals over the doors. The lance given to you by Lady Istus should allow you to access the rooms now.” 

“Look at that, Ango, already being useful.” 

“Thank you, sir!” 

Istus cut in. “Okay, we're seriously almost out of time. I have one last blessing for you, my emissaries. Your fate is guiding you, not today, not tomorrow, but to a moment that will challenge you in a new and horrible way and I cannot make the difficult decision that lies at the end of your quest  _ for you _ , but I can grant you the time that you need to make that decision.” The three started growing fuzzy, and the flames around the temple grew brighter and closer. The goddess ran her fingers over her tapestry and took in a shuddery breath. Raising one hand she wiped a tear from her eyes as she glanced between Angus, Taako, Merle, and Magnus. 

**“** _ You're going to be amazing.” _

_ _________ _

Angus took in a deep breath, revelling in the uncommonly warm day. After finishing his work with Lady Istus and the cults from that small town (yes, cults multiple. He didn’t want to talk about it. Cult cases were no longer exciting.) his caseload had brought him back to Neverwinter. The Militia was still avoiding him, but there had been a couple of civilian cases that had seemed interesting.

He had just finished up an easy one, and was taking the moment to enjoy the weather, the gorgeous scenery of Neverwinter’s Blue Lake district, and some delicious street food he'd purchased from a vendor. It had been too hectic for him to really reflect much recently, but things were… they were going pretty well. He'd had steady business for a while now, he'd had plenty of money for food and shelter, he'd met some incredible people, life was- it was really good now. He was pretty happy.

The boy reflected on his thoughts as he glanced around the idyllic section of town, indulging his hobby of people watching. Over there was a little tabaxi girl with a birthday crown and present in hand, yonder was a elderly halfling couple tossing bread crumbs at pigeons, a group of teenagers of various races were playing some sort of game in a circle, a dwarf with a wooden arm was- wait.

Angus whirled to give his full attention to Merle as the dwarf walked on the cobblestone path around the pier. The man was acting… shifty, well shiftier than normal. Every few steps he would look left, right, and for some reason up as though to check for someone following him.

… well now Angus  _ had  _ to follow him.

At first, Angus didn’t really see anything suspicious, Merle was just kinda… walking around, hands in his pockets, head on a swivel. Angus is usually pretty good at following a trail, and he doubted that Merle of all people would be able to catch him.

Which was probably why he didn’t duck quite quick enough and the dwarf caught sight of him almost immediately. Angus blamed the feathers Haddie had woven into his hat.

“Okay!” Merle yelled out. “I see ya! Come on out!” 

Sheepishly, Angus stepped out from his hiding place, reluctance woven into every move. He held his hands up in a placating manner, fully aware that Merle was  _ not  _ his biggest fan. 

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I saw you walking around and at first I was just going to come up and say hi.”

“Pass.” The dwarf grumbled.

“But you were looking especially suspicious and sneaky, so I thought I’d just do some detective work. I’m really sorry.”

Merle’s face remained dark and impassive, and he began lifting the heavy spanner at his waist, and Angus found himself taking rapid steps backwards as the dwarf raised the weapon higher and higher. 

Suddenly, Angus was saved when a small bundle of- was that a child- crashed into Merle. Angus blinked as the dwarven child continued to cling to grumpy and cantankerous Merle and yelled “Whaddya get me? Whaddya get me?” 

What was happening right now? Suddenly a second young dwarf ran forward, a book bag slapping against her back as she hurried to Merle and the boy. “How many times do I have to tell you? Don’t tackle him every time you see him.”

_ What  _ was happening right now? “Sorry, sir, who- who’s this? Who’re these people?” 

Merle gave an angry sigh and sent Angus a glare that was completely negated by how the boy was still clinging to him tightly. “Okay. Look- Angus, whatever. You gotta promise me, give me your word of honour, that you won’t say anything to the chuckleheads I normally hang out with, or, the Adamantium Spanner is gonna go splatskie.” 

Not doubting the man’s words in the least, Angus made a quick heart-crossing symbol that one of the Boyland kids taught him. “Okay sir, who - what- what is this big secret you don’t want me saying?” 

“Angus.” Angus realized belated that oddly enough, Merle was the only one who called him his actual name. “I want you to meet… my… kids.”

Angus blinked at him blankly. What? “Uh-” 

He gestured at the older girl, who was straightening her glasses. “This is Mavis.” 

The girl made a very impressive curtsy and smiled at Angus before glancing at her  _ dad  _ (Again, what?) in confusion. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you? Who-who’s your new friend, Pops?” 

“Eh… this uh, a child detective. He, uh, I think he, I dunno, I think he looks for missing children or something.” 

Angus protested, “That’s not— that’s not actually true, I just-” 

“Well, whatever, it doesn’t matter, you’re never gonna see him again, Mavie, so don’t— don’t worry about it, this is the last you’ll see of this guy.” Well that was kind of rude. “And this is, this is my little fireball, this is Mookie.” He ruffled the hair of the younger boy.

Angus politely took off his hat as Mookie practically bulldozed Merle, still repeatedly asking what the Dwarf had gotten him. Angus said nothing for a moment, watching the man with his children and allowing his entire worldview to shift.

Mavis kind of wandered closer to Angus as Merle and Mookie started talking about root beer barrels and explained the situation much better than Merle had, though it still completely floored Angus to realize that Merle had children at all. He was still kind of just gaping stupidly when Mavis walked over and started grilling the cleric about his adventures. Merle seemed ready enough to tell his stories, smiling with his children as he described his most recent escapade. 

One of the Boylands, Da Therolf, had been extremely similar to Merle in temperment. Angus had thought to himself on several occasions, ‘if Merle liked kids, this man would basically be Merle’ but here it was in the flesh, Merle liking and caring for his kids. It was… it was actually kind of adorable. 

Not that Angus would ever say that out loud ever. Merle would  _ kill  _ him. 

It wasn’t how he thought he would be spending his day, but it was actually very nice to spend time with Merle and Mavis and Mookie. It wasn’t quite as chaotic as the Boyland house, but Mavis enjoyed reading and Mookie loved hide and seek, which was Angus’s favorite game! They wandered, played games, saw sights, and told stories. Angus learned more about Merle than he ever thought he would and… he liked him. Well, he had always  _ liked  _ him, but now it was a more personal way. As though before he had liked Taako-Magnus-Merle, and gotten to know Taako and Magnus a bit more separately, but Merle he had liked as part of the trio. Now he was realizing… Merle was pretty cool individually too.

Again, it wasn’t a thought he thought Merle would appreciate if he said it out loud. 

As the hours wore on, Merle called Mavis off to the side. Angus watched them curiously, but was soon distracted when Mookie tackled him. Angus yelped as he landed hard on the ground, and then again as the young dwarf began trying to wrestle. Angus squirmed trying to get away, but the young dwarf was sturdy and scrappy. 

“Mookie! Go easy!” Merle cried out. 

“Okay Daddy!” Mookie yelled back as he tried to get a furiously wiggling Angus into a half nelson. 

“He’s a big weenie!” Merle finished. 

Angus awkwardly escaped the nelson. “Uh this is-this isn’t my favorite- oh no.” He yelped as Mookie somehow twisted their legs together until Angus was on the ground again. This time he kinda just played dead as Mookie pinned him, and as he’d hoped the dwarf soon got bored and ran to interrupt his father and sister’s conversation. Angus took a moment to dust himself off and try to straighten his, as usual, very fancy outfit. Well, at least he didn’t have any more client meetings today. 

He made his way back to the group just in time to hear Merle claim “ I don’t like to brag, but in my little group, I’m the go-to guy for any action, any fighting, any combat. Any spellcasting. I’m kind of the guy.”

Angus, ever helpful, sent the two kids the biggest grin he could make and gave a thumbs up, as if to say ‘yes, that is a true thing. What he just said was definitely the truth’. Apparently it hadn’t been especially convincing, as Merle touched the spanner threateningly. Darn. And here he’d thought he’d gotten better at lying since the train. 

Mavis mentioned then that their boat would be leaving soon, so Merle started leading their small group back through the nearly-abandoned pier to the ferry that would take them back to their clan lands. 

A few of the shops were still open, but as the sun had already set the majority of them were closed, including a candy shop that Mookie got unreasonably excited at the moment he saw it. 

Mavis ran forwards to collect her very disappointed brother, and for the first time in hours Angus was all alone with Merle. The detective looked at the adventurer and thought of the happiness he had exuded throughout the day. Merle wasn’t  _ great  _ with kids, but he loved his children. That was clear. “Sir, I know it’s none of my business, but I’m– I’m curious why you haven’t told anybody about your kids.”

The man sighed, looking more serious than Angus had ever seen him. “Angus, I was a really crappy dad, and I was an even crappier husband. And, you know, one of my biggest shames is that I kind of left ’em in the lurch, and I’ve been... Now that I’ve come into a little bit of dough, I’ve kind of, you know, been trying to rebuild my relationship with the kids, and, you know, I’d— I don’t want everybody to think I was a complete and total deadbeat. So...y’know, I didn’t want them to know what a turd I was, but you know, Pan has really helped me turn my life around.” He gave a laugh, sounding more like his usual self. “I’m a new man. I’m a new man in Pan.”

“You know, just watching you all day, it’s just... I don’t think you have anything to worry about. I think you’re... I think you’re gonna be a good dad, from here on out.” Da Therolf had been a fantastic father, and Merle was looking like one too. 

“Don’t make me like you, you little turdbottle. Look. Thank you. I appreciate it. But I still don’t want anybody to know about this, okay?” 

Angus grinned. “Okay, it’ll be our secret.”

“Yeah. And, you know what, I trust you, because I think you know that if you say anything—”

“Yes, I know, you’ll beat me to death, I gotcha, I gotcha.”

“I’ll murder you.” But he said it in the same tone as he’d said ‘don’t make me like you’, so Angus was finding it hard to be upset. 

Suddenly, a commotion sounded on the far end of the bridge. Angus and Merle whirled to the sound and watched with horror as a fully loaded wagon was clattering down a staircase on a collision course with Mavis and Mookie directly in its path. Without a word Angus and Merle started sprinting to the children as fast as they could, though they knew they wouldn’t be able to actually do anything about it. Angus didn’t have time to pull out his wand, much less cast a spell. They could only watch in horror as the wagon drew closer and closer. 

Then, without cause, reason or explanation, the wagon suddenly changed direction, banking in a sharp 90 degree turn that was so immediate that some of the gear flew from the wagon and crashed through the shop window. Candy fell from the broken window and flooded the streets, which Mookie descended on immediately. Mavis however, was fully aware now how close she and her brother had been to danger, if not death, and was frozen in shock. 

Angus continued forward until he was beside the stunned Mavis. “Are you okay?” 

“No I, yes I’m not- what just  _ happened _ ?” She asked as Merle finally caught up and pulled her and Mookie into a strong embrace. Mookie complained that his father was keeping him from the candy, but Mavis was clinging to him just as furiously. Merle wasn’t more than two feet away from his kids at any point of time until he reached the dock of their specific ferry, and Angus felt for the first time that day as though he were intruding. Soon enough however, the ferry was out of sight and Merle and Angus were making their way back through the pier and towards the bridge. 

Angus glanced at the, now thoroughly looted, candy store as they passed and shuddered. “What happened? I thought for sure it would- for sure it would get ‘em. Why did the wagon change direction?” 

“Someone cast a spell, moved the wagon.” Merle grunted. 

“What? Who? I didn’t see anyone near us.” Angus perked at the concept of a mystery. 

“Don’t know, didn’t catch their name. Some ghost-thing in a red cape that’s been stalking us?”

“Oh,” Angus deflated. “I’m not allowed to investigate death crimes.” 

“Look kid, whatever that things deal is, I don’t care right now. He saved my kids, alright. I’m not going to repay that by siccing you on him to snoop in his personal, er ghost-onal, life, got it?” 

“That’s a good point, sir.” The boy allowed, and neither of the two spoke again until they were nearly over the bridge. Merle snorted. 

“Not allowed to investigate death crimes, who tells  _ you _ what you are and are not allowed to do? I thought you were some hot shot, don’t tell me you still have a bedtime.” 

“Oh, no sir. It’s uh, it’s kind of a long story.” He could remember it vividly, his one and only case involving necromancers. They actually worked at a major life insurance company and had been resurrecting their clients to sue customers for insurance fraud, and suing for much more than they had paid out. He’d snuck in and gotten what he needed, but the sneaking out was proving to be, well it was proving to be a much bigger problem than he had anticipated. He could remember it clearly, hiding under a table with a tablecloth, then the sounds of chaos and a heavily accented voice delivering judgement. 

He’d gotten lucky. When he was inevitably discovered, it was by a reaper who was after the necromancers for death crimes, instead of the criminals themselves. When the reaper, a very nice man with a very fake accent, had flipped up the tablecloth to find him, he had seemed stunned. He’d flipped through a big book he carried, asked if he really was Angus twice, and muttered something about a clerical error before making the boy promise not to investigate death crimes until ‘15, is 15 a good age? I haven’t been alive in so long I forget when humans mature. Let’s say 16 just to be safe.’. He was an odd man, though Angus thought he and Taako might get along. 

“Whatever kid, I didn’t actually care. Welp, I guess this is where we part ways.”

“B-but sir, we’re in the middle of a bridge.” 

“Parting ways, perhaps I’ll see you in another life.” 

“Lady Istus said we were intertwined, so we’ll probably- oh ok sir, goodbye! It was nice to meet your family!”


	6. Battlefest Mania and MapQuest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A chapter of wrestling, soft pretzels, and a mysterious map. What more could be in store!
> 
> Hey, thank you to everyone who is reading and especially those who are leaving reviews!! It makes me so excited to read them and hear what stuck out to you guys!

Angus grinned as he handed his VIP ticket to the large man standing at the door in the back of Chaos Stadium. The human man gave it a thorough review before shrugging and stepping aside to let Angus pass through. The boy rushed past with a grin, eyes wide and smile wider as he walked backstage amongst dozens of buff men and women of all races in increasingly elaborate costumes. He’d barely made it a few steps before someone grabbed him by the backpack and hauled him back a few feet. 

“You’re going to get stepped on, kid.” 

“Klarg!” Angus squirmed until the bugbear let him go, then whirled to give him a hug. The man’s burly chest vibrated as he chuckled, returning the child’s embrace. “Is that your costume? You look great!” 

“Thanks. I have a mask-thing too, but it's hard to eat with it on, so I left it off for now. The BattleFest crew doesn’t skimp when it comes to good snacks.”

“Hey, Karg!” A gnome with a scowl yelled. “Come over here, we have to go over a few things before you’re up.” 

Klarg scowled back, but turned to Angus apologetically. “Sorry, that’s my coach. I should probably go over and hear what he has to say.” 

“That’s alright, the show is probably going to start soon anyway, I need to get some snacks and find my seats! We can hang out more after!”

“Promise. There’s a good tea house a few blocks away.” 

“Sounds perfect. Just make sure you win, as a present for me.” 

He chuckled. “Happy Birthday, Angus.”

Angus was humming excitedly as he made his way out from backstage. Back when they parted ways, Klarg had ended up contacting Jess the Beheader rather than the elf that Angus had recommended for fixing the Charm Person problem. He’d claimed it was the best mistake he’d ever made, because Jess had actually ended up helping him get a job as a wrestler and he loved it in a way he’d never loved… caving with goblins? Whatever he’d done before. Sure, occasionally he would still black out and go looking for Taako, but he claimed it was happening less and less often, possibly because of how hard and how often he hit his head, which wasn’t entirely reassuring. 

He was still a junior wrestler due to his inexperience, but he’d had enough clout to send Angus a VIP ticket for the Championship match for his birthday. Angus had never been more excited for a present. He  _ loved  _ wrestling, well, watching it at least. He did not enjoy doing it, his time with Mookie had proved that definitively enough.

Angus’s head was on a swivel as he walked through the crowded arena, eyeing the snack bars and merch tables, as well the people in the costumes of their favorite wrestler and clutching handmade signs. Wait was that… oh Lady Istus, she hadn’t been kidding, had she? 

Angus wove through the crowd to get closer to the elf, human, and dwarf arguing with one another. 

“Hello sirs!”

“Ango? What are you doing here?” Magnus asked, looking shocked.

“Aw come on, there isn’t even a ******* here this time.” Merle complained, but Magnus ignored him and continued. 

“Are you investigating the murder too?” 

“Well sir, I got tickets as a gift from- I’m sorry did you say murder?”

“Yeah, Jess the Beheader, you remember her right? From the time with the train.” Taako asked, hand pumping as if to imitate the pulling of a train whistle. 

“I-I remember, sir.” 

“Well, her partner was murdered the other day, and she thinks that she might be next. So we’re here to catch the killer and keep them from killing her too!” 

“Well, that’s why they’re here.” Magnus said. “I’m here to wrestle! You’re looking at Jess’s new BattleFest partner.” 

“Congratulations sir, I’m sure you’ll do great! Now, about that murder…” 

They gave him the bare bones of the situation as they made their way backstage. Angus looked backwards longingly at the snack cart but followed along, hoping he would have time to come back to grab something before the show started. They weren’t backstage long before they spotted a familiar dwarf. 

“Jess!” Magnus yelled in greeting. 

“The Beheader!” Merle finished. 

The BattleFest champion looked up with a grin. “ Ey, long time no see! What, whaddya guys been up to since all the train murder stuff?”

“More murder!” Magnus answered gleefully. 

“Yeah, death, destruction, the usual.” Merle added. Angus frowned. That wasn’t necesarily true, sure there was a lot of destruction in Goldcliffe, but he didn’t know of any murder. Then again, he had been… occupied for most of their time in the Hammerheads’ hideout. And whatever happened over candlenights had seemed rather distressing and destructive. Then they had died several times in Refuge… Okay, Angus got the point. 

Jess was frowning. “You sounded more Scottish last time I saw you.” 

Oh that’s right, Merle had been pretending to be Leeman Kessler and had had that awful- “Death an’ destrrrruction, the usual!” That- that was even worse than it had been. 

Jess apparently thought so as well. “You sounded less Scottish”

Angus snickered into his hand as the somewhat portly man beside Jess cleared his throat to catch their attention. 

Taako eyed the man. “Hey, what’s your handle, kemosabe?”

He introduced himself as Marrick, the CEO of the BattleFest corporation and asked the three to sign some paperwork. Angus simply had to brandish the VIP ticket and the man left him alone. Good, Angus wasn’t sure what it was, but he did not like the man, some honed instinct warning him away. 

As the three pestered the human about some cooking show - oh, it was  _ Taako’s  _ old show, they used to be competitors. Which meant that they had existed in two separate places at the same time in completely different places. Still, Merrick seemed to have noticed a difference, maybe Taako’s show had been more popular than Angus had realized (he’d been half convinced that Taako had completely over exaggerated the popularity of his show, but that was more based on the wizard's personality than any comment on his abilities) - Jess turned to Angus. 

“Hey, uh, detective kid. “Sorry, I would have, like, I would have called you too but I didn’t have a way to contact you.”

Angus raised an eyebrow, skeptical. Klarg, her coworker, had sent him a package. “I highly doubt that ma’am.” 

They were interrupted by Merrick who, having handed Taako, Merle and Magnus a stack of nondisclosure agreements, had turned his attention back on Angus. “Hey, uh, you, little boy. Little boy. Are you a Jeff Angel fan?”

Despite his prior misgivings, Angus perked and nodded vigorously. Who  _ wasn’t  _ a Jeff Angel fan? Jeff Angel was  _ amazing _ .

“Please don’t talk to our little boy.” Magnus said.

Merle emphasised, “He’s OUR little boy.”

“Bought him fair and square.” Taako agreed.

That was… strangely sweet in a fairly bizzare if not somewhat deranged way. Angus wondered if these three were getting as much of a ‘total creep’ vibe as he was. The man reached into his khakis and pulled out an angel wing button and handed it out to Angus. Though it was tempting (it was a  _ Jeff Angel  _ button) Angus wasn’t keen to accept anything this man offered. 

“Oh, heck no, sir! I’m no chump mark!” With a cheshire grin, Taako gave Angus a high five as Merrick tucked the button back into his pocket.

“Oh, sorry, sorry kiddo. Welp, off to business! Business, business time for me!” That was… totally suspicious. Why was no one else mentioning how suspicious and creepy that guy was? 

Nope, they were- they were just talking about BattleFest rules. Angus used the distraction to snoop around and find a briefcase marked ‘Merrick’ in one of the offices. A train ticket proved that the man, creepy though he may be, had been in Goldcliffe at the time of the murder.

His short investigation had been quick enough that when he got back, they hadn’t even noticed he’d left. 

“THEY CALL ME…”, Magus was nearly yelling, “i’Morko!” In a fluid, almost practiced motion, the human pulled out the bear mask that Hurley had made and put it on. Okay, that was actually really cool. 

Jess seemed to think so also, as he nodded and smiled. “Magnus, I picked you ‘cause I liked your  _ moves _ on the Rockport Limited. And your body type is pretty similar to my last partner, whose name was Brock Thickstone. But Merle and Taako, I have jobs for you too. Merle, if you’re willing, we could use a manager in our corner.” 

Merle puffed out his chest proudly. “Oh! Yeah!.”

“We could use, you know, a hype man, somebody there to work the crowd, get ‘em on our side, but you could also support us from outside the ring if you’re able. Taako, your job is the most important job of all.”

“Go on.” Taako said, elven ears upright and pleased, almost preening. 

“You need to make sure no one sits in this chair…” Magnus goofed. Jess ignored him. Angus, who had been pulling out a chair to continue the goof, pouted. 

“I need you on the catwalks up above keeping an eye on the fight, keeping an eye out for suspicious individuals.”

“On the catwalk?” Taako clarified. 

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, on the catwalk? Okay.”

“Uh.”

“Should I shake my little tush ON the catwalk? You know what, I know we’re having fun here, Right Said Fred did have some other really good singles you should look into. If you have a few minutes later, I’ll hook you up, I’ve got some tapes.”

Jess stared at the wizzard blankly. “I am regretting how I have assigned the most important job.” That was fair. Angus could understand that. 

“Naw, I’m ready.” 

“So, there is no doubt in my mind that Brock’s death was the result of foul play. I don’t know who’s responsible but I figure whoever they are probably wants me dead too. I need you up there watching my back.”

“Sure, yeah, okay. No problem.”

“Cool. Let’s get you all backstage.”

They headed backstage and Angus immediately made his way over to Brock’s locker, digging through to try and find something, anything, that could point to who would want to kill the wrestler and why. Most of the stuff in the locker was pretty typical. Protective gear for practice, random clothes, protein bars, sweat rags, water bottles, deodorant. There were some various pieces of fan mail and hate mail, but nothing concerning. There were a lot of dried flowers- apparently Brock really liked flowers- and some prayer books for some darker and older deities, but nothing that was obviously disturbing. He would have to look into these deities, see if there were any cults or any deities that were direct enemies in a way that would lend itself to committing murders. There were a couple of products from sponsors also, he could see if there were any competitors for a major sponsor, after all money was one of the most common reasons for murder that he’d found. He could also- 

“Hey, Angus what are- what are you doing?” 

Angus looked up and was face to face with Klarg. The bugbear had his mask on by now, and he looked pretty awesome,but Angus had other things on his mind. “Did you tell Miss. Jess the Beheader not to hire me to solve the murder of her partner?” He asked, unable to hide the accusation and hurt in his voice. He thought he’d proved to Klarg that he was a pretty decent detective. Magnus, Taako, and Merle at least thought so. The boy looked beyond Klarg in time to see Magnus level a punch at the goliath by the wardrobe. OK, maybe that wasn’t a ringing endorsement. 

Klarg let out a deep sigh. “Yeah, I did. I just, I didn’t want you to have to work on your birthday. It wasn’t exactly a great present if I just called you here to do your, like, job.” 

Angus softened, feeling the hurt and anger fade away. “Oh,” He said, touched at the bugbear’s concern. “I- thank you Klarg. you’re right. I- I’m going to take the day off, celebrate my birthday properly.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah.” He darted in for a hug, which the bugbear returned. When he pulled back, he looked up at the wrestler with wide eyes. “Wait, before you go out there, you need to know-” 

“Moonbeam!” A voice yelled, booming in a way that indicated their voice had been magically magnified. “Moonbeam please make your way to the sound production team to confirm your entrance music.” 

“Oh, gotta go, this is important. Music is like, 90 percent of being a star. At least, that’s what my agent said.” 

“Wait, sir I-” 

But the Bugbear had disappeared. Angus sighed, and hoped that Taako wouldn’t actually end up anywhere close enough to the actual fighting to trigger an episode. Angus made his way back to the group just in time to see the Goliath somehow tear the uniform off of one of the security guards while somehow leaving it completely intact and hand it to Taako. Magnus had already been decked out in a flashy furry-esque costume that he was pulling off rather well. Merle was wearing a pinstripe suit that he wasn’t pulling off quite as nicely. 

Angus made sure to step behind Jess to prevent the goliath from offering him an outfit as well. Jess made the men put their weapons in her locker, though Merle and Taako kept their magic focai. Which, why a security guard would be walking around with an umbrella, or a coach with a bible was anyone's guess. 

“Mmmm, but not the gloves, right? That’s part of my costuuuuume.” Magnus tried, as though Jess hadn’t seen first hand what his gauntlet could do when they were on the train. Wait, was that a completely different glove on his other hand? What did that one do?

“No, all of it’s….”

“I got a tree arm.” Merle offered, and Angus blinked. He’d noticed that during the Refuge stuff, and again when they had run into each other in Neverwinter, but with all of the kids stuff, but he hadn’t had much time to ask about it either time. It hadn’t made a big impression, which was weird. You would think a wooden limb would have been more pressing. 

“That’s super great. Hey, what happened there, by the way? You had two—”

“We’ll tell you later.” Magnus said quickly, but Merle was already interrupting. 

“Mr. Rustic Hospitality over here cut my arm off. That’s what happened-” 

“I. SAVED. YOUR. LIFE.”

“No, you cut it off!”

“By Pan’s name!” Magnus cursed. 

Jess, who was well versed in when to cut her losses, interrupted. “No gloves, it’s a no gloves policy too. Merle, I think you can keep your weird arm.” 

Angus desperately wanted to know more about why and how Magnus cut off Merle’s hand. Eventually, Jess’s locker was bulging with the items they couldn’t keep, but finally everything was put away and the announcer was calling that the big match would start soon. 

The men all went to find their positions and spots and Angus interrupted, trying to sound dejected. "Oh shoot, I’m sorry sirs, I couldn’t find any good clues. I guess this one’s just out of my hands." Did that sound disappointed? He hoped so "Anyway, I’m gonna go get a—"

"You looked in the— There was nothing in the locker?" Magnus asked. 

"Nope, not anything super weird. So, I’m gonna go get a big pretzel and watch the shooowwwwww." 

"You aren't going to help us find the murderer? I thought this was like, your thing." 

"Well, normally yes, but well, it is my birthday today and-" 

"What? Happy Birthday Angus!" Magnus almost shouted. 

"Oh hey, made it another year, way to go, Agnes." Taako put out a fist for a fist bump. 

"Yeah yeah, happy whatever." Merle grumbled as Magnus rushed over to his satchel. The human fighter pulled out a carved duck and thrust it into Angus's hands. 

"Happy birthday!" He repeated. 

"Oh wow, thank you sir, I love it! Uh, do you- do you always just carry around duck carvings?" 

"You never know when they'll be useful." 

"Uh, I guess so sir. Thank you very much." He clutched the duck to his chest as Taako claimed that for his present he would show Angus a cool spell next time they had a lesson. Merle gave Angus one of the dried flowers that had fallen out of Brock's locker.

"So, I'm going to go get in line for the pretzels so I don't miss the intros, and-" 

Magnus dropped a heavy hand onto Angus's shoulder and looked him in the eye gravely. "Ango, I am dedicating this fight to you. If I win, you won’t die of some terrible disease."

Angus almost snorted, but instead he said, once more in his 'dismayed' voice, "Am I sick?"

"Not yet. Give it time." 

Angus gave into the giggles then as he hurried away back to the front of the building. The lines were pretty short given that most people were in their seats, and handing over the snack vouchers that had come with the VIP ticket didn't take long. Soon he was happily walking back to his seat, huge soft pretzel in one hand and a slushy in the other. 

He paused by the merch tables on his way down, eyeing a sign at the Jeff Angel booth claiming 'FREE goody bag for children under 13 on their birthday!'. Beneath it was a picture of Jeff Angel with a speech bubble that said 'Do hugs not drugs'. 

Well, how was he going to pass that up? 

The free goody bag, not the drugs. He walked up to the elf running the booth-a teen who was turned around completely, trying to see as much of the arena as possible from the outskirts. 

"Hello sir, it is my birthday! Can I get the free goody bag, please?" 

The teen reluctantly drug his attention back to Angus (and really, the match hadn't even started yet, what was he looking at) and raised an eyebrow. 

"You uh, you have anyone who can confirm that it's your birthday? Your parents or something?" 

"No sir, but I have this!"He handed over a well-creased slip of paper. Technically it wasn't his birthday, but it was the day that a group of adventurers brought him to the orphanage when he was an infant. They had found him alone in the middle of a dangerous forest, less than a year old and left to die. He didn't know his actual birthday, but he always celebrated it on the day that he had been accepted by the orphanage. It had been a decent place before it went under, and when it did he'd made sure to grab all of his paperwork, Including the intake form he'd just handed the clerk. 

"I have this too, sir!" Angus brandished his VIP badge. "If that means anything.”

The teen glanced at Angus, frowning as he looked between the boy, the paperwork, and the badge. Finally, the elf's features soften. "Yeah, kid. Here." He handed the boy a bag. "Why don't you grab a shirt too, I uh, I think Mr. Angel would approve." 

"Really?!" Angus was almost vibrating with excitement, and the teen actually let out a smile. 

"Sure, just pick out one you want." 

Angus chose a very cool T-shirt with a Jeff Angel silhouette, bracketed by the words 'BattleFest Championship' and the year. The shirt was both dark and sparkly and the image and words were a cool bright neon. It looked  _ awesome _ . 

"Thank you sir!" Angus called as he pulled the shirt on over his normal button-down. It was too bad Moonbeam was too new for them to sell merch. He would make sure to get something once Klarg had a bigger fanbase. 

He made it to his seat-new shirt on, pretzel in one hand, slushy in the other, grin on his face- just as the announcer began calling out the introductions. Perfect timing.

He cheered even as the crowd boo-ed at the entrance of Jess the Beheader and i’Morko, though he had to laugh seeing how completely uncomfortable Magnus looked at the negative attention. He gave the man a thumbs up that was definitely lost in the crowd. Merle followed, doing jazz hands that complimented his sleazy outfit and Angus smiled fondly. He loved his friends. 

Taako was supposed to be in the catwalks by now, but Angus couldn’t see him due to the blinding lights. Suddenly a pimpled teen flew out from the catwalk and landed in the audience a couple yards away. Welp, there’s Taako. 

Angus joined in the crowd’s frantic screaming as Queen Sabine strutted her way to the arena. Oh, she was awesome, Angus had actually voted for her to be in the fight against Jess, a fight between the two of them would be amazing considering how they used to be teammates. He couldn’t wait to tell Haddie and her siblings about this. Several of them were fans too and they will be  _ so  _ jealous. Death Man came out and Angus cheered, though not as enthusiastically as before. That particular wrestler hadn’t been one of his votes. He wasn’t Angus’s favorite, but meh. They couldn’t all be winners. Angus grinned when Magnus flipped the fighter off, though the smile fell from his face immediately when the room went dark and two bright moons appeared. 

Crap. He’d been hoping that since everything was audience voted, that Klarg would be lucky enough to get paired on a difference fight and could keep as far away from Taako and the gang as possible, but of course they would vote for him to go in the battle against Jess, who had taught ‘Moonbeam’ how to fight. If there was anything fans liked better than pitting enemies against one another, it was pitting friends against one another. 

He forced himself to put away his fear and actually jumped onto the seat of his chair to cheer as Moonbeam made his way down. 

Klarg glanced over at Angus and winked, knowing his seat number since he got the ticket. Then, the Bugbear turned back to the arena, pointed at i’Morko and… and did the same thing Death Man had done. Oh, that, that was embarrassing. Moonbeam kinda sulked in a corner as Magnus repeated the threat back at the two of them, and Angus tried to give his friend an encouraging thumbs up. 

It was Klarg’s first grand championship, cut the guy a break. 

Then, two angel wings unfurled from the catwalk, and Angus lost all thoughts of Moonbeam as he and the rest of the crowd went wild. Not everyone was cheering like Angus was, but absolutely everyone in the arena was making noise as Jeff Angel’s iconic theme song flowed through the crowd.

The Aarakocra wrestler flew into the air to grab at a mic, yelling to the still-screaming crowd, “My name is Jeff Angel. And I value three things above all: integrity, hard work, and being nice to kids!” Angus whooped along with the cheerers, banging together some wing-shaped noisemakers that had come in his birthday gift bag. “Now, uh, I don’t know much about Jess’s new partner and manager here, but I do know one thing: these seem like the type of guys that forget to call their dads on their birthdays!

Angus didn’t cheer as much for that. After all, Magnus and Merle did both kinda give him presents for his birthday, and they didn’t even know. Still, Jeff Angel was the  _ best,  _ poor judge of character notwithstanding. 

The battle itself started out  _ amazing _ . Magnus went after Klarg first and managed to climb on his back as they grappled. Death Man tackled both of them, Jeff Angel disappeared, Pinstripe pulled out a ladder, yeah, it was just an amazing match.

Everything came crashing down when Klarg stopped, cocked his head, and charged at the corner nearest to Angus. He reached a claw out at nothing, swiping through the air and seemingly connecting with something unseen. Suddenly, a figure in a security outfit appeared in the Bugbear’s grip and he paused, jerking slightly. Angus was close enough to the stage to hear the bugbear shout, in a horribly familiar overly polite voice. “Taako! What the blazes are you doing here?”

Then, he  _ took off his mask _ ! Angus watched in surprised horror as the two men continued to converse. He couldn’t hear them anymore, not after how the crowd screamed and cheered in reaction to Moonbeam de-masked himself. Then, without any warning or visible trigger, Klarg straightened once more and shook his head.

Wordlessly, the bugbear grabbed the elf and climbed to the top of the ropes. Klarg jumped what had to be  _ at least  _ like 10 feet in the air, and demolished Taako with the Suplex to end all suplex-es. The crowd went  _ insane,  _ though even that couldn’t block out Klarg’s angry yell of “You made me jump off of a motorcycle, onto a tank, and get shot by a laser!”

Taako said something in reply that Angus couldn’t hear, and the Angus could only munch on his pretzel worriedly as he watched the interaction. Should he have told the adventurers about Klarg from the get-go? He’d been worried they would seek him out and trigger an episode, but it seemed like that was bound to happen no matter what he did. 

It figured. 

Suddenly, Taako lifted his umbrella high and shouted, “I got that fart touch!” And a mushroom cloud erupted from the umbrella, filling the air above the arena. Strangely, he’d cast it too high to really affect any of the fighters. That didn’t stop the audience from boo-ing such powerful magic, some lone audience members finally pointing out that he wasn’t even supposed to be there. 

Angus pulled his t-shirt up to cover his mouth and nose. He was out of the spell radius, but better safe than sorry. Taako’s spells had a way of having… unexpected side effects. As if in response to the boy’s thoughts, a cry of pain sounded from the catwalk above the arena, and suddenly a gust of magic wind sent the poison cloud into the arena proper. 

So much for eating his pretzel. 

The cloud soon enveloped the ring, forcing all of the fighters to break down into pained, hacking coughs. Jeff and Sabine both fell to the ground, and neither one got back up. 

Those nearest the stage got up from their seats and started running, only to trip and stumble as an earthquake rocked the building. Angus stayed frozen in place, unable to go into the cloud, but unwilling to follow the fleeing fans and abandon his friends. Therefore, he had a prime view to see a figure fall off of the catwalk and into the ring. 

A woman with short red hair, and a bandolier loaded with darts stood from where she fell, eyes darting around the fighters and poised to battle. “I don’t know which one of you is working with Garrigos, but I don’t have time to wait anymore and figure it out.”

Angus had to struggle to hear her words amidst the panicked shouting and running of the crowd, but as soon as he did a pool of guilt formed in his stomach. Garrigos, that had been one of the creepy tracts he’d found in the Brocker. He should have told them, he should have done  _ something.  _

Merle didn’t hesitate, pointing his tree hand at Taako. “It’s him.” 

The woman reached for one of her darts. “You. Powerful wizard. Are you an acolyte?”

Taako laughed nervously in a way Angus recognized as meaning he had no clue what was going on. “What?”

“Are you an acolyte of Garrigos?”

“No!” Angus shouted. “Say no!” His voice was lost to the chaos. Unfortunately, Merle’s was not. 

“Say yes. Say yes.”

“Yes...?”

“Yes.” Merle confirmed. 

“No, no!” Magnus protested, looking at Taako incredulously. The elf quickly tried to backtrack. 

“No! I’m―”

“Don’t ever listen to Merle!” Magnus argued and Angus groaned. It sometimes felt like the three of them shared a single brain cell. A concept that was solidified when Taako started talking about his cooking show ratings again, and Merle said something that was entirely blurred out in static. Yup, it was Magnus’s day to have the brain cell.

The woman, Marie, ignored the three of them completely and explained that Garrigos was a war god of raiders and wanton violence, and that Brock Thickstone and a mysterious partner were members of a cult attempting to resurrect the ancient god. They had planned BattleFest specifically to mimic an ancient ritual used to do just that. She’d managed to kill Brock to prevent his part in the ritual, but hadn’t discovered his co-conspirator in time to stop the competition altogether. As the woman finished her speech, Angus became aware of five gigantic, red arms with claw-tipped hands that appeared from nowhere. They reached to the sky at first before slamming to the ground and causing another shockwave to go through the area. 

The majority of the crowd was still scrambling to escape, but Angus, who hadn’t even thought to move as the truth was revealed, was still in his seat. 

The shockwave was so intense that it rocked through the building, cracking the old walls and making pillars crumble and fall. One pillar landed mere yards from Angus, and he screamed and dropped his pretzel as he realized that he had been a few scant feet from death. 

Suddenly, before the scream had even finished leaving his throat, the boy found himself bundled in strong, sturdy arms. 

He looked up to meet the kind eyes of Magnus. Magnus smiled at the child as he carried him to safety, then tore his new T-shirt off and threw it to the ground, still running frantically around the arena. 

“You are  _ not  _ wearing that T-shirt.” Then he looked up and his eyes went wide. “Oh  _ yuck. _ ”

Angus followed the human man’s wide, horrified eyes in time to catch sight of Merrick, the CEO of battlefest, cutting at his robe just below the largest bulge of his stomach. Yuck indeed. Almost of its own accord, a large dark red orb emerged from below his robe. The man laughed, a hysteric sound filled with malic and relief, as he rose the orb into the air. 

Suddenly, Taako yelled “Come eat! Everybody come get some, come get a taste!” 

Angus looked over to see Taako, still by the side of the ring, standing above an absolutely exquisite chest filled with weapons. Magnus immediately changed directions from ‘aimlessly running around the stands’ to making a beeline for the weaponry. He tossed Angus into the ring just in time to catch the axe Merle flung at him. The fighter grinned as his hands slipped into familiar and well worn grooves, greeting his axe like it was an old friend. 

Angus watched in mute horror as the battle raged around him, Taako getting hit and then casting Bigby’s Hand to fight the mysterious red arms that seemed to be trying to pull something from the depths. 

Magnus ran at Merrick, his attack sending the orb flying. 

Merrick cast mage hand, a big monstrous red hand that scrambled for the orb, and suddenly, Angus didn’t feel useless. He knew what to do. His wand was in his hand without conscious thought, the magic felt simply like an extension of him as a well-practiced blue Mage Hand erupted from his star-tipped wand, easily slapping the more practiced spellcaster’s spell away and pulling the orb back to the ring to drop it in the young wizard’s ready hands. 

“THAT’S MY BOY!” Taako yelled, loud and proud and enthusiastic. “THAT’S MY BOY!! MY BEAUTIFUL, MAGIC BOY!” 

Angus would have been  _ ecstatic _ , if he wasn’t suddenly scrambling around the ring with an orb he needed two hands to grip, desperately trying to avoid the four hands suddenly playing wack-a-Angus. “WHAT DO I DOOO?”

“Angus!” Magnus shouted as he managed to duck under a swiping hand. “Keep away!” 

“What does that mean?”

“It’s your favorite game!” 

It most certainly was not. In fact, it was his least favorite game, but that was enough for the boy to understand what the fighter wanted. He swerved a smacking hand until he was closer to the human man. When he was near enough, he tossed the orb to Magnus. He took a moment to stand still, panting harshly to catch his breath as the ghostly hands turned their attention to the fighter. 

Marie suddenly shouted, “Throw it to me, throw it to me, trust me.” Magnus obeyed immediately, tossing the orb in a high-arching arch and yelling something about having ‘Michael Jordan’s secret stuff’, whatever any of that meant. 

The cloaked figure caught it cleanly, and almost immediately shouted. “Magnus, I uh.. I really like your costume. It looks really cool, and I like your character and I think it’s really well-developed out.” 

Well that was… random. Except, maybe not. Angus gasped in surprise as the orb grew noticeably dimmer at her words, and as the hands seemed to flinch as though pained. She tossed the orb to Taako. “Wanton violence and destruction is what summons Garrigos, the only thing that can put him back in the realm of banishment is the opposite of that.”

“We can do violence!” Merle protested, but Taako shook his head sharply. 

“No, I can do this! All the spells I cast tonight worked  _ super  _ good and they were  _ really  _ dope and it was awesome!” Nothing happened. The hands continued to attack, and the orb shone on. 

Magnus clapped loudly. “Toss me the orb―”

Taako shook his head. “They’re really going to make me say it.” He cleared his throat, looking like he had swallowed something sour for a moment before his face cleared. “Angus! That was great.”

Angus, now no longer distracted by completely imminent death (now it was only mostly immanent) felt a proud, pleased feeling swell in his chest as he smiled harder than he ever had before. “Thank you sir. It’s nice to- it’s nice to get positive reinforcement from you for literally the first time ever in my life.”

“Don’t get used to it.” Taako shouted, but Angus was still smiling just as hard. As if in response to the huge sacrifice Taako had given with the praise, the org dimmed several shades, until it was just a simmering glow, and for a moment the hands seemed to writhe in agony. 

Magnus started jumping and clapping. “Pass me the rock!”

“Pass the rock! Pass the rock! Pass the rock!” Marie agreed. 

Taako tossed the orb and Magnus caught it easily, immediately turning to Klarg. The Bugbear had remained in the ring with Angus, though he had remained silent and away from the fight beyond occasionally fighting away the hands as they had attacked the young detective. He had been severely injured before the poison fog, and at the moment was just kinda leaning against the ropes, struggling to keep his feet.

Magnus pointed at the bugbear. “It’s been a pleasure fighting with you, Klarg. You are a worthy opponent.”

“Yeah, I know.” Klarg growled, still sounding furious. “I'm huge and big you've almost killed me like six times just doing things you want me to do.”

“But I also know that you have a good heart.”

The wrestler looked at Angus briefly before turning back to glare at Magnus. “I don't. I promise, I'm a big- I'm a bit-”

“Ohh, I see what we're doing.” Merle said, and Angus closed his eyes. He saw it too, and he didn’t like it even if it was a really good idea. Besides, he’d already had a ‘charm’ relapse once already. He hadn’t been cured. Yet. This wasn’t going to make anything worse.

Klarg froze, in a way that was becoming far too common. Then, in the voice that Angus had grown to hate, he said “Thank you, Magnus. I really wanted to hear that.”

Magnus threw him the rock. 

“What do you think about me?” Taako asked, ears alert in a way that showed his certainty that the plan had worked. Angus moved over and stood beside the bugbear, using what magic he had to keep the hands from bothering him. They weren’t doing much, moving listlessly as they still jerked with pain. 

“Since the day the three of you came into my life, I have been enriched in a way that I- AAHHHH!” He jerked, voice becoming gruffer as he shook his head. 

Taako cursed. 

Klarg moved, running away from Angus to attack Taako, the orb still in his hands. In fact, he had hefted the orb over his head as though he planned to bludgeon Taako with it. 

“No!” Angus shouted, but Klarg wasn’t listening. As anger and bloodlust filled the bugbear, the orb grew brighter and the hands stronger, and Angus didn’t know what to do to  _ stop  _ any of this. 

Suddenly, a clear, strong voice shouted, “I cast Zone of Truth.” 

Angus froze. The whole world seemed to freeze for a few eternity-long moments. Then, Klarg took in a deep breath and confessed, still in his Klarg voice, “I just love you guys so much! I’ve never had a friend before and I know that you’ve taken advantage of me a lot, well not you Angus, you don’t count, but I can also sense the good in you and I just want to say, I think you’re the best dudes I’ve ever met and do you want to go take a trip to Aspen with me?”

Magnus laughed in relief as the orb grew darker and darker. The hands started to shrivel and shrink. “Actually, that sounds great.”

“My dad has a cabin in Fantasy Aspen and I think we’d have a really great weekend there together. You’re invited too, Angus. We can make s’mores.” 

And then he just. Kept. talking. The arms had disappeared, the orb had gone dark, and what had once been sweet and endearing, was steadily growing into ‘creepy’ territory, and Klarg just didn’t seem intent on slowing down at any time. Finally, the orb itself just disappeared into black smoke. “I just don’t know what to do with you boys.”

Magnus bounced excitedly on his toes. “My man!”

“Yeah?”

“We met a whole family of bugbears down in Lucas what’s-his-face’s lab― they’re totally cool. We saved them. They’re fine. Do you want to go hang out with them?” 

Angus’s head shot to the bugbear. He had a family? What was that about a lab? Saved them, had they been in a bad situation? What was going on? 

Klarg had frozen, looking at Magnus was amazement. “You telling me my family still wants me back after what―” His voice was even deeper than normal, full of complex emotions. 

“YES.” 

“That’s amazing, thank you for tying up my storyline like this.” 

Klarg… Klarg had a family. They had  _ found  _ Klarg’s family. They wanted him, and now he was free to see them, to meet with them, to have family. Angus grinned and congratulated Klarg. He could feel jealous when he was alone. Now was  _ not  _ the time. 

The boy was dragged from his thoughts as a final, more powerful than before, shockwave rocked the arena. A loud clunk sounded, drawing all eyes to the center of the stage, where the title belt had fallen. It sat there, ripe for the taking. 

As was her M.O., Jess popped out of the woodwork now that the big bad had been destroyed. “Well, you boys never cease to amaze, that could have gone real south, real fast, thanks for the help. As for the title belt, a duo can compete in the Supreme Champion Finals but only one of them can take home the belt.”

She reached for the belt, but before she could touch it, Magnus stomped onto it, filling the air with a sharp clang. 

Jess gave Magnus a toothy grin. “Yeah, why don’t we fight for it?”

The two ran at each other, and Angus just slipped between the ropes so that he was no longer in the ring. The boy looked at Klarg, who was still grinning with happy tears in his eyes.

“I uh, I actually think I’m all Battlefest-ed out. Want to go to that teahouse for a celebration dinner? You can tell me about your family.” The Bugbear nodded, and the two left the adventurers behind for a quiet evening of tea and conversation. 

At least, they did after Angus went back and found his t-shirt. 

* * *

Magnus turned the map upside down, then sideways, then to the other side, then finally back to how it had been when the director had handed it to him. “Welp, that’s all I got. Anyone else have any ideas?” 

“Yeah, my idea is that we actually look at these instructions the Director gave us.” Merle argued. 

“Please,” Taako scoffed, helping himself to another bon bon (handmade of course). “I don’t have the vocabulary to know what 90% of these words mean. It’s all bla bla bla to me.” 

The dwarf grumbled and continued staring at the page in front of him as though that would make something miraculously happen. 

Taako looked as well, but since nothing had changed in the last 2 seconds he immediately gave up again. “Ugh, can’t we just look for a different relic or something. Ya know, cast some magic missles, do a couple truth zones, hit things a thousand times a turn, ect.” 

“Nah, the director said we weren’t ready for the last relic yet. We have to find the one this special map leads to first. Some kind of hat that makes everyone obey you or something? I wasn’t paying a lot of attention.” Magnus said. He’d given up with the map and was instead listlessly rolling Steven’s ball back and forth across the table. He called it ‘taking Steven for a walk’ which was bizarre, but the fish seemed to enjoy it. 

“Not super original.” Merle muttered, but Magnus suddenly seemed thoughtful. 

“Wait… I thought there were 8 relics.” 

Taako shrugged. “I think so.” 

“But…” Now Merle looked thoughtful, which meant they were entering dangerous and uncharted territory. “Didn’t we only get like… 3 so far?” 

“I think we got more than that.” Magnus mused. “Like, at least two more. There was the one where we destroyed a city, the one where we destroyed a train, the one where we saw Klarg again, uh…”

“The one with Kravitz,” Taako added. “The one where we destroyed a town like a million times before not-destroying it.”

“Yup, sounds like five to me, so if there are only two left, that makes seven, right?” 

“Maybe they got one without us?” Merle offered. 

“Nah, remember, the Director said this place was fails-ville before we showed up.” Taako said. 

“So, what about the last relic?” 

“Aw man, is this one of those math riddle things? I hate those. I’d rather look at this crap.” He brandished the map instructions and made a point of reading through them again. He only got a few lines in before dropping them to the table with a groan. “Remind me why we’re stuck looking at this? I thought the Bureau had like, a million nerds to do this stuff.” 

Suddenly his ears perked up and he straightened from where he was slumped. He turned to Magus and Merle to see the same wide-eyed realization. He started grabbing all of the random different sheets of paper that were scattered around. “I think we know the perfect nerd to solve this thing.” 

Merle cursed. 

* * *

Angus was writing notes furiously and silently from his hiding spot, listening to his marks converse amidst the sound of scraping silverware and clinking glass. He’d gotten a lead that the fraudster he was chasing had a standing reservation at Goldcliff’s premier restaurant, and had managed to sneak into the dining room. It hadn’t been easy, as it was a little too fancy to have a kids menu, but with a  _ lot  _ of sneaking he’d made it under her normal table. The place was high brow enough to have floor-length white tablecloths and it was almost like he had the perfect Angus-sized fort for sneaking and sleuthing. 

The fraudster had been there for hours, entertaining several ‘business partners’. She had given Angus pages upon pages of notes, including several new co-conspirators and the location where he would be able to find evidence. If he just gave the Militia this book, he had more than performed his part of the deal, they would have everything they needed to finish the investigation. 

“-ook, you’re a reporter. If you tell the Mayor that you were investigating his daughter Carina, and he will fold immediately. He gives you the password, you get into the club, and I’m sure I don’t have to tell you what to do after that.” 

“Carina?”

“That isn’t for you to know. All you need to know is that I need to meet Rughan, now. And this is how you will get me there.”

Ah, Angus  _ knew  _ Rughan had been a part of this somehow. This was perfect, this-  _ zzt-  _ this was bad.

Angus scrambled for the Stone of Farspeach in his pocket, but he couldn’t silence it in time before- “ANGO! Hey there Buddy, where are you? I’m asking as a friend, not ‘cause we want something from you.” 

“Also we definitely want something from you and would not have called if we didn’t.”

Magnus. Taako. Of course. He silenced his Stone and looked up sheepishly to meet the astonished look of a human woman and female Aarakokra. 

“Oh, uh hello Ma’ams. I was, uh, I was just playing hide and seek with some of my good friends and uh, I hid under this table and I guess they couldn’t find me haha.” 

“I’ve been here for 3 hours.” The aarakokra said, still sounding more stunned than angry. Angus palmed his notebook so that it would hopefully be hidden and laughed again. 

“Oh yeah, I, uh, kinda took a nap?” 

“A  _ nap _ ?” 

“Um, I mean I fell asleep? Accidentally? Yes. I, a child, was playing hide and seek with some of my very good friends, and fell asleep accidentally in my hiding spot. That is what happend, and now that I’m awake I will leave you to your lunch and go to find them. Kaythanksbye.” 

He sprinted out of the room before they switched from confused to suspicious, or could notice his notebook. He ran several blocks before ducking behind a dumpster and picking up his still-vibrating stone. 

“Hello sirs,” He said, panting. 

“Agnes, did you hang up on us earlier?” 

“Sorry sir, I was in the middle of a case and had to maintain my cover. Oh! I should have cast silence from my hiding place and it wouldn’t have been a problem! I’ve gotten really good at casting silence, Sir! I can’t wait to show you during our next lesson.” 

“You and silence, sounds like a decent change of pace, my man.”

Angus flushed, okay he had practically been asking for that one. “Um, did you say you needed something, sirs?” 

“Oh yeah, hey where are you? We’ve got like, a puzzle-code thing for you to solve.” 

“Oh, I love puzzles and codes! They’re my favorites!” 

“Thought that might be the case.” Magnus added. 

“Well, I’m in Goldcliff now, and they have a  _ really  _ good library. If I need any reference material, they would have it!” 

“Coolio, see you soon.” 

“Well,” Merle interrupted. “Probably not super soon. What’s probably going to happen is we are going to crash land,” Crash land? Where were they coming from? “Wind up in some weird environment and have to fight off some moderately difficult creatures before the actual quest can start, but we’ll be there eventually.” 

“Um, that was very specific sir.” 

“Comes with experience, kid.” 

That odd conversation finished, Angus dropped by the Militia office before heading to the library. The office was more subdued than it had been before Hurley's death, but they had finally filled that captain position that had been open since before he could remember and the officers were as polite as ever and suitably impressed with his work. He promised to come back the next day to file an official report so that he would have the rest of the day free to work on the puzzle. If this was about the  _ phsssss _ items (When did he start thinking of them as  _ pshhh _ items, surely he had a better way to refer to them than a mental onamonapia), it might actually be a challenge!

He was so excited.

The adventurers arrived about an hour after Angus, and seemed slightly singed but otherwise ok. In the meantime the boy had stacked different code breaking books, common cyphers, and riddle books around himself in anticipation for reference material. 

Taako coughed into his hand, then said clearly “Nerd!” Then coughed again.

“Mmkay. You know I am-I am helping you out here with this.” 

“Right you are Ango!” Magnus said as he dropped a bulging back onto the table. “Here is the stuff, good luck. So, what do you wanna do while Ango is doing this. Anyone else thinking froyo? I’m thinking froyo.” 

“Wait, you guys aren’t going to stay?” 

“Nah, sorry Agnes, we have to go get froyo. Double booked, you know how it is.” 

“Oh, uh, but I just- okay.” He opened the bag and pulled out the first few pieces of paper. Wait a moment, he recognized that!

“Wait, is this… is this the Unknown Map of Nebulous Prize?” 

Merle frowned. “The what?” 

Angus dug through his pile of books before finding  _ Code-Next: A comprehensive Lists of Faerune’s most famous codes and riddles _ . He flipped through the pages before finding the correct one and shoving it at the men. He went back to the scattered pages with new vigor as they looked over the book. “This map is  _ famous,  _ and has been since before I can remember. Supposedly, these maps and this set of clues showed up in every famous adventuring tavern, library, and militia office in a matter of days. They promised an  _ incredible  _ prize to whoever could figure it out. What the prize was has been lost to time, but it was important enough that thousands of adventurers went looking for it. This thing is a legend it- oh, the prize is one of those  _ pshhhh _ items, isn’t it?” 

“Angus, did you just make the sound of static?” Magnus said, amused. 

“Um… maybe.” He shook his head. 

“Shh,” Taako shushed, idly turning two pages in the book back and forth. “The sooner Angus is finished with his book report, the sooner we can get ice cream.” 

“I thought I said froyo?” 

“Have you ever had a craving for one of these foods that you could actually distinguish between?” 

“Anyway,” Angus interrupted. “The map was always known to just be a blank piece of paper with a border, and accompanied by two sets of clues. I’ve never heard of anyone getting anywhere close to this point, it's  _ incredible. _ ” 

He looked at the three sheets of paper. Two of them had a list of clues that had already been solved, and the third a piece of paper with several disjointed lines etched along it. He couldn’t remember any map or land mass that looked anything at all similar to the lines on the scroll in front of him, but he consoled himself knowing that the adventurers wouldn't have been there if it had been complete. 

“Yeah, the Director said that they were super close.” Magnus said. 

Angus nodded, looking through the notebooks they had brought. “Hmm, they’ve been working on this a long time. Some of these notes date back over ten years. Actually… you guys go get your snack, it’ll take me awhile just to go through all of this.” 

They left without another word beyond Merle’s muttering that they didn’t need his permission, which Angus ignored completely. He had a mystery to solve. 

* * *

Whoever came up with this puzzle was a  _ genius. _ The clues all had one word answers that would then become the cypher to unlock and understand the clues on the second half of the sheet, but each cypher only worked for the clue that it answered, and the clues had been  _ hard.  _ Based on the different penmanship and ink colors, Angus would guess that it took several different people several weeks, if not years, to answer all of the codes. The majority of the answers were some kind of blurred, incomprehensible word, but since they had already been solved he didn’t dwell on that. 

Once the clues had all been solved, they created two sets of instructions. One would help someone turn the paper into a map, and the other was instructions on how to avoid traps once you got to where the treasure was. 

Well, they were instructions heavily cloaked in very complex riddles. It seemed that all of the ‘avoiding traps’ riddles had been solved according to the notes, as well as most of the ones for revealing the map. There was only one left, though Angus had no clue how anything could help the mess of squiggles become a map. 

Angus had made it through all the notes and was working on solving the last riddle when the men came back. Magnus dropped a small cup by his elbow which Angus took without protesting that the Library didn’t allow food. 

“Mango for Ango.” Magnus rhymed as Angus tasted the sweet tartness. The child hummed in appreciation at the flavor.

“Thank you, sir. It’s delicious. This puzzle is incredible! Did you read through these notes?” 

“Eer..” Taako hummed negatively. 

“Maybe.” Magnus deflected. 

“No.” Merle said bluntly.

“The map and paper was formed using magic, incredible spellwork! Look, you had to cast Zone of Truth on the paper to get any of these small black lines that make up to topographical information. Then, the water masses were formed by using illusion magic to create a replica from the ancient Court of Candaroon and trace around the buildings. The towns were included by having someone make a shield a direct to scale replica of this pattern here,” He pointed to a picture on the side of the notes. “And throw ink on it. If the shield is properly formed, only the towns will get dirty. There was even some necrotic magic where these green lines are, you see they must have-” 

“Did you solve it or not?” Merle asked gruffly. Angus frowned at the tone. Maybe the dwarf was just angry that someone other than him got to cast Zone of Truth. 

“I’m still working on that part, but I have some good leads. Now that I understand most of the map, maybe you can help! Can you look through some of those old atlases and see if you can find any bodies of water shaped like they are here?” 

“Ugh, work.” Taako groaned miserably, but Angus wasn’t paying any attention, too busy idly eating his yoghurt and taking notes on the riddle. 

Several hours during which a lot of goofing off and little map checking took place, Angus finally put down his pencil. “I think… I think I got it. I’m about to solve the final step of one of Faerun’s most famous codes.” 

“What is it? What is it?” Magnus practically yelled, waking Merle from a nap. 

Angus took a deep breath. “It was hard, because most of these riddles only dealt with a single step, but it looks like this one has two. Once I discovered that, it wasn’t too bad.” 

He glanced at his notes once more before nodding. “Okay, Taako? This paper consists of wood pulp, grass fibers, and cotton fibers. I need you to transfigure just the cotton into lemon juice. All of the cotton, can you do it?” 

“Come on, I’m  _ Taako _ .” The elf held the paper for a moment, and the three watched as a few spots got a little darker from the dampness. 

“Okay, now what? This didn’t exactly help, dude.” 

“Okay, now can you use magic to make a controlled flame underneath the paper, make sure you don’t catch it on fire!” 

This time the elf did it with no commentary, and after a few, bated breath moments new thick lines of ink filled the paper, ending in an ‘X’. 

“We did it!” Magnus yelled, arms lifted high in victory. Angus looked at him with wide eyes. 

“You found a map that matches this? You mean we actually solved it?” 

“Oh, uh, negative. We did not do that, but hey, its an ‘X’! X marks the spot right!” 

“On the map yes, but it would be sorta difficult to find the X if you can't get to the place the map shows.” 

“Well Mr. Sassy Pants,” Merle grumbled. “Where do you think it is?” 

“I don’t know. These bodies of water are too perfect, too angular. I haven’t been everywhere, but I know I’ve never seen anything even close to this. There are no town names or river names either.” 

“Hmm, let's take another look.” Magnus said.

Taako scoffed but moved over to look at the map as well. “We’ll figure it out eventually, it would be really boring if we stayed on this scene too long.”

“Ooh, ooh!” Magnus said excitedly, and all eyes turned to him in anticipation. Who would have thought that Magnus had discovered the answer. “Look, that looks like a duck beak.” He pointed at an oblong half circle created by the necromancy spell (it had to do with very specific bone placement before a resurrection spell was cast, very unsettling). 

Okay, so Magnus did not discover the answer. Except… except that really did look like a duck beak. And there was a dot a few inches away that one could be convinced was an eye. Could it be… no, there was no way... 

He had to try. 

Angus turned immediately as the other two adventurers started goofing on Magnus, digging through his backpack until he found the duck sculpture that the human had given him at BattleFest for his birthday. He ignored Magnus’s triumphant “Told ya it would be useful!”. 

Feeling somewhat ridiculous, he picked up the map and lined it up so that the half circle lined up with the beak and the dot with the eye. 

It fit perfectly. Hesitantly, the boy began wrapping the unusually pliant paper around the carving. The Necrotic lines acted as a guide, and he folded it in a way that the green lines were covered, other than the beak and eyes. When he was finished, on one side of the duck sat the majority of the invisible-ink lines, including the ‘X’, a normal looking lake, and a word that was revealed: The Devil’s Nostril. 

He looked up. “Quick, find me a map for the Devil’s Nostril. It should be in the deep mountains.” The three scrambled to obey, for once without comment. When Merle found the desired map, Angus put the covered duck next to it, noting the landmarks. 

It was a perfect match. 

“We… we found the magic treasure. WE DID IT!” 

“Shh!” One of the elderly librarians scolded. 

“Sorry.” Angus answered, but he was brimming with joy and excitement. They had done it! “I can’t believe it, this is amazing!” 

“I knew you could do it Ango!” Magnus said with a ruffle to Angus’s hair. 

“I didn’t.” Merle said, but he was smiling as well. 

“That’s amazing, I can’t believe that your duck carving was the  _ exact  _ size needed to solve the riddle.” 

“Well that is the standard guild size for a carved duck.”

“It is?” 

“I think so, it's the size  _ I  _ always carve them, so it must be.”

“Sir, I don’t think-” 

“Is any of this actually important?” Taako asked.

“I… I guess not.” 

“Good, cause we are treating ourselves for dinner, I don’t want any complaints. I thought too much today, I need to refuel. Besides, it's GORP night on ********. The Director can wait till after we eat some real food to get her fancy treasure map.”

There were no complaints. In fact, as Magnus carried Angus out on his shoulders, the boy wouldn’t have been able to think of a complaint if his life had depended on it.


	7. The Suffering Game Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So like.... without the goofs, the Suffering game is pretty.... dark yall. So, just a fair warning: Angst Ahead!! 
> 
> This fic may or may not exist because I had at one point been trying to figure out Angus's sacrifices if he was in Wonderland.... 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!!

Angus sighed in quick relief as the head of the adventuring party called for a break. He understood why they were making such speed, the Felicity Wilds were an exceedingly dangerous place to be, and the quicker they made it through, the better. They were especially eager to get through it now that they had achieved their quest and were just passing through on their way back to NeverWinter. The adventurers were fairly friendly, had appreciated his input on their quest, protected him from the bosses, gave him an equal share of the treasures they had looted from the dungeon, and seemed like they would hold up their end of the bargain to pay him once they returned the love letters to the princess (honestly, Angus had no clue how love letters ended up in a dungeon hidden in the Felicity Wilds in the first place, or why the princess thought they were worth the lives of 5 people, but that wasn’t any of his business). 

All in all, it was one of his better experiences joining an adventuring group. Their desire to rush through the dangerous woods was completely understandable considering they had already had to fight off 4 different types of creatures since entering. For the most part, Angus didn’t mind the breakneck speed, this wasn’t his first quest and he was in fairly decent marching shape. It was just that… well… he had a much smaller bladder than any of the adventurers. That was the thing with quests like these, somehow, no one ever had to use the restroom. What was with that? 

He wandered a few yards away from the group, deeper into the brush, to give himself a little privacy. He hummed nervously as he worked, constantly alert and with his head on a swivel as he scanned for threats. After all, it would be embarrassing if  _ this  _ was when the fifth creature decided to have a go at them. 

The boy paused in his scrutiny as a billboard was suddenly… there. He would have sworn it hadn’t existed a moment ago, but there it was, clear as day. The sign cheerfully advertised a place called ‘Wonderland’ with a nearly annoying font and fabulous pictures. A group of people were scattered across the billboard (most Angus didn’t recognize, and some he couldn’t even really  _ see  _ correctly), and in the center there were three figures larger than all the others: Taako, Magnus, and Merle. How… why were they on a sign in the middle of the wilds? What was Wonderland and who painted this? Was that… was that  _ his  _ name painted on it above their heads? What was going on?

Angus only knew two things: first, that he was looking at the beginning of a very big mystery, and second, that his friends were involved. Really, that was all he needed to know. 

Excitement flowed through Angus as he rushed back to his traveling companions to grab his backpack. He rushed to where the Ranger and Teifling women, who had acted as the leaders of the group, were talking over a map. 

“Excuse me, Ma’ams? I just found out that some friends of mine are also on a quest in the forest and since we were technically done, I was kinda wondering if it would be okay if I went to join them.” 

The ranger looked alarmed as she met eyes with the child. “Friends of yours? On a quest? Angus, I think you should bring them back here. This forest is far too dangerous to be in without a responsible adult.” 

Well, one out of two wasn’t too bad. “Oh, they’re adults Ma’am. It's just another Adventuring Party that I’ve worked with a lot.”

She relaxed at that. “Oh, well I suppose your part of the work is done. I don’t see why not.”

“Thank you! It was a pleasure working with you, please don’t hesitate to call on me again.”

He confirmed that she knew how to deposit his money when they got to Neverwinter. It was a risk that they wouldn’t pay, but most of the party seemed fairly centered in the lawful alignment, so he was willing to take it in order to meet with his friends.

Angus called out his goodbyes as he scurried away from the group, grinning as he made his way back to where he saw the billboard. He frowned when he arrived. Earlier, he’d just kinda seen the billboard in the distance. He had anticipated working through the woods and brush until he got much closer. Now however, there seemed to be a clear, wide path leading straight towards it. At the center of the beginning of the path there was a small magnifying glass. Hesitantly, Angus picked it up and immediately a light shone from the glass lense, pointing in an unerring line down the path. That was… that was suspicious, right? And certainly very trap-like. But… he was more certain than ever now that this was the type of adventure that Taako, Magnus, and Merle would be a part of. He knew, somehow, that they were definitely at the end of this path. Dangerous and creepy or not, he was going to see this through. 

He followed the path, somehow more nervous as he walked and didn’t encounter a single creature so long as he stayed his course. In fact, he wasn’t bothered by a single beast as he made his way to a gigantic clearing, with an incomprehensible building at its center. The building, Wonderland presumably, was squat, wide and cylindrical. Black and white stripes covered the outside, constantly moving in a way that gave Angus a headache within seconds of staring at it. 

At the base of the building are 6 figures, three familiar and three not. As Angus watched, the constant movement of the building stopped, and a span of black appeared in front of the figures. The boy quickened his pace down the path, prepared to call out for the three to wait for him, but they didn't go in. Instead, after sharing a few words, the three strangers went in, leaving Taako, Magnus, and Merle outside. Angus watched, still far away, as the door closed and the rotation of the wall started up again the instant that the three strangers passed the threshold. Angus continued to go at a half run, and was gratified when the rotation stopped once more, and a new door opened in front of the remaining three adventurers. 

Magnus was inside so quickly, that Angus couldn’t even track his movements, though his companions were not nearly so eager. This was evidenced by how Magnus apparently had to step back out and  _ grab  _ Taako. 

“Wait!” Angus called as he neared, though it seemed they didn’t hear him. Mele just gave his friends a slow shrug and began waddling towards the doorway as Angus shifted into a sprint. The boy’s backpack clanged against his back as he ran, but he was just  _ so close.  _ Merle made it all the way through, and Angus could see the three men staring at the still-open door in confusion as it didn’t close for a moment. However, mere seconds after the dwarf, Angus rushed into the room. “Hello sirs!” He said around his panting, and as his back foot cleared the threshold, everything went completely black. 

The boy froze, his next words dying on his lips as everything went completely blank to his human eyes. He flinched back as the horrific blankness was suddenly replaced by light flooding in from a row of spotlights along the ceiling. The spotlights were joined by a pair of big rotating floodlights that are in the ground and pointed to the ceiling, the streams of light crossing so that they meet at the top of en elevated platforms with two figures posed on it. 

Angus squinted at the figures, seeing two gorgeous elves, decked out in flashy and undoubtedly high fashion outfits that Angus could only gape at. The female elf stuck one slender arm into the air and snapped her fingers. On cue, loud, bass-heavy music from no discernable source filled the expansive area, and every inch of the wall, floor, and ceiling was suddenly transformed into thousands of flashing neon lights. The spotlights flickered on and off with the beat of the music, and as it did the duo walked down the platform, coming closer to their group, and with each step they were  _ working it. _ The duo is simply voguing their way down the runway, hitting the beat with perfect unity and timing, until the simple act of walking has become a spectacle. 

Angus swallowed convulsively, getting the distinct impression that these two had a power that far outmatched those that he had seen before, and no, that power was not ‘being fabulous’. Angus glanced over at his companions, trying to see if they shared his deep set misgivings. 

Of course not. Magnus and Merle simply looked confused, and Taako… Taako looked absoluely  _ delighted _ . He seemed enthralled with the music, fashion and attitude of the pair of elves, his eyes wide and grin stretching from ear to ear. 

Angus didn’t know what he had been expecting. The boy turned his attention back to the two elves just as they reached the end of the catwalk, landing on a circular platform that began to spin as it lowered them down to floor level. The elves continued to pose. Finally the music ended, and the pair fell into the final pose as the music dropped. 

Taako immediately started clapping enthusiastically. “Amazing! Absolutely amazing!” 

Angus clapped as well, with much less enthusiasm. He just didn’t want to be rude after they put so much effort into their show.

The male elf sent the four adventurers a wide grin. “ You made it. Welcome to Wonderland!”

“Hopefully, you didn’t have too much trouble navigating the Wilds.” The female elf added.

Angus blinked, and suddenly the elves were  _ gone.  _ One appeared beside Taako, a hand on his shoulder like they were good friends. Angus yelped and stumbled back at the surprise proximity, though Taako still seemed thrilled by the elves. 

“Are you excited for your quest’s end?” The mysterious figure asked. “Whatever you seek, you will find it in Wonderland.”

“I wasn’t before, but I’m getting pretty jived now!” The wizard said with a broad grin. 

Angus was pretty sure by now that he’d made a mistake following them here. 

Magnus suddenly let out a startled shout and Angus turned to see the other elf behind him. “It’s not gonna come easy, though, dear, are you prepared for that?”

Magnus looked at the elf with wide, concerned eyes. “What? Was that an innuendo? I’m not— I'm very uncomfortable.”

The female elf winked. “Maybe.” 

“Eww…”

Angus should have just stayed with the other adventurers, gone back to Neverwinter. 

Suddenly, both figures were looming over him. And he took a nervous step back as one lent down to ruffle his hair. Huh, that was odd, he didn’t actually  _ feel  _ anything. His hair moved, but it was like the wind. The wind itself was weightless. 

“Wow, a youngster in the game!” The male elf said. 

“Congratulations,” The female said, “To our youngest ever competitor! Don’t worry, we won’t go easy on you. You will win or lose on your own merit.” 

“U-um okay.” The adventurers had been nice, one of them had even made him a cornhusk doll, why hadn’t he stuck with them? 

Suddenly, the elves were back on top of the platform, moving quicker than the eye could track, and Angus felt a dread pool in his stomach as he realized that they weren’t casting shadows. 

The male elf began to explain the rules of this… wonderland, and Angus silently pulled out his notebook, not wanting to miss a single word. Which was of course when Magnus interrupted to ask if they were holograms. Angus could have been annoyed, but he was too happy that they were catching all of the odd things about the elves as well. 

The female elf simply laughed at the question. “When we look this good, does it really matter?”

She made a pose to emphasize her words, and Taako immediately shouted “No!” 

Magnus made an agreeing sound “No, I mean, no, he’s right, no.” 

“Shut up!” Taako shouted. 

She had a point. Still, Angus was watching the pair of figures closely. They hadn’t technically denied Magnus’s accusation, but Angus had much more sinister suspicions. Kravitz was going to be so mad at him for going back on their deal. 

He was distracted from his thoughts when the elves started to give the rules in earnest, instead taking copious notes of their words. He noted that it all seemed to be a test to see how much they wanted their prize, and it wasn’t hard for Angus to deduce that the three had to be after one of the  _ pshhhh  _ items. 

“I have one question.” Taako said when it seemed that they were done. Angus frowned at his notes. Just  _ one  _ question? Angus had several. 

The male figure shrugged. “Shoot.”

“Are you guys taking applications, or like what’s the story vis a vis employment? I have skills, whatever. Several references; these dunces. Angus who isn’t quite as dunce-y. Others that are dead.” 

The female elf laughed, but the male looked at Taako appraisingly. Angus thought he preferred the laughter. “Let’s see if you can make it through Wonderland. If that’s what you truly desire, maybe it will be waiting for you at the end of your… trials.”

“Yes!”

As one, the two figures snapped their fingers and disappeared, and the spinning circular platform lowered to waist height. For Taako and Magnus at least. Merle and Angus got on their tip toes attempting to see it, and suddenly the disembodied voice of the male elf said, “Oops, our bad”, and it lowered a few feet more until the shorter two could see it easily. 

It was a wheel, cut into several sections with a different picture on each one. Angus quickly jotted down each of the images. The floodlights rotated a moment later and landed on a door at the other side of the room. It was a large, heavy looking door with four dim red circular panels over it. The elves explained that each of them would have to spin the wheel and sacrifice something based on the picture, and could only advance once they had all accepted a sacrifice. They threatened a penalty if anyone refused. Angus felt his heart beating hard in his chest. He… he didn’t have much. What could he sacrifice? 

Magnus of course rushed in and offered to be first. Angus watched closely as he spun, the wheel landing on hand. 

The male elf hummed. “Hand, hand, hand. How gnarly do I want to  _ be  _ to start out?” 

“Oh not  _ too  _ gnarly,” The female elf started, and Angus felt like the two had had this conversation word for word with each victim that happened into this lair. “They’re just getting-we don’t want to discourage them right from the beginning.” 

Angus was already feeling plenty discouraged. 

“Okay, okay. How about this? One finger. You get to pick it. I won’t, I won’t choose it for you. You get to pick the finger. You won’t even have to like, cut it off, we’re not gonna have another Crystal Kingdom debacle on our hands. You just pick it and then  _ boop _ !” Crystal kingdom?

Merle suddenly sounded much more enthusiastic. “If you  _ do  _ wanna cut it off, though, I’ll help him out.” 

Oh, Magnus must have cut Merle’s hand in some kind of crystal kingdom. Interesting. And the elves knew about it. Weird. 

Angus listened as the elves cajoled Magnus into giving up a finger, Taako and Merle encouraging him. Angus said nothing, eyes roving through the room constantly, taking any and all notes that he thought might possibly be somehow relevant.

Finally, Taako pointed out that with all of the woodcarving rouge fighters professions, it was practically a miracle that he hadn't lost any already and the human reluctantly agreed. The pinky of one of his two mis-matched gloves went limp, and the fighter grumbled angrily as one of the four red circles over the door turned green. 

As Magnus groused, black smoke fell from his lips and floated into the sky, where it disappeared amid the dark ceiling. Angus tensed, wrote it down and underlined it thrice. He kept a careful eye out as Merle lost his darkvision, and Taako was cursed with an instance of bad luck, but no smoke came from them. 

“Alright alright, three down, one to go. Step on up, step on in, spin to try spin to win!” the female voice sounded, and the three adventurers turned to Angus as though, in his silence, they had forgotten about him. He’d sorta been hoping the elves would forget about him too. He hadn’t  _ really _ thought that would work, but it had been worth a shot. 

“Hold up,” Magnus interrupted. “What are you going to take from Ango, he’s like, a baby.”

“Why, that depends on the wheel, doesn’t it? Haven’t you been paying attention?”

Taako looked like he was prepared to argue, but Angus knew that no matter what any of them said, he was going to end up spinning the wheel. “I-It’s okay, sirs. I can- uh, I think I can do this.” 

He spun, and watched with bated breath as the images flashed in front of him. A mantra played in his mind. ‘Not brain, not brain, not brain’. He thought he could give up a finger or vision or whatever, but not his brain. He  _ needed  _ that. The boy bit his lip as it slowed, finally stopping on a small picture of a hand. 

“Hm, hand… we already took a finger, and we don’t want to be boring so lets skip ahead a little bit. We usually use this for later rounds but,” she shrugged. “So, for hand we usually take a way a bit of one’s, lets say their prized abilities. Now lets see… hmmmm, you are a sneaky one, aren’t you? You like following people, snooping around. I think… well, I think we may even the playing field. In this sacrifice, you will give up the lightness of your steps, you will need to work much harder to be stealthy. If I were to give a numerical figure to this kind of thing, for some completely arbitrary reason, I would say your stealth would go down by, hmm, let’s say 1.”

Angus swallowed. His whole job depended on him being able to sneak around places, to move silently. He needed to be sneaky to get all of his clues, and he’d been lucky to have some sort of natural grace, a way of moving silently that he’d been practically born with, he would hate to lose it.

“Uh, are you sure you want to do that?” Taako asked. “Like, I know he hasn’t said much  _ now _ , but trust me, I’m speaking from experience. You don’t want this kid being  _ less  _ quiet.”

“I’m pretty sure you forgot I was here a few moments ago. Sir.” 

“Okay, well that, look kid, that’s not- that’s not exactly a ringing endorsement. I thought you had died like, twice.” 

“I forget about your existence whenever you're not literally in front of me.” Merle added. Yeah, Angus could have expected that. 

“That’s true!” Magnus exclaimed, which Angus hadn’t been expecting as much. “Maybe you should take it Ango, so that people-” 

“Mostly us.” Merle interjected.

“Are more like, aware of your existence.” 

Angus shook his head, grateful for the levity, but considering the option much more seriously. Losing some of his natural grace would make some things more difficult, but being sneaky was about more than walking silently. He’d spent hours -years- honing skills that shouldn’t go away with this bit of magic. 

Besides, being the first to pass on a sacrifice would be really embarrassing. 

“Okay, I agree.” He said, and hey, his voice didn’t even shake! He walked back to the group, wincing at the unfamiliar slaps his feet made against the hard floor. Oh, he already didn’t like that. 

A noise made him turn back to see the wheel sink down into the floor, the last red circle on the stone door turning green as the door itself slid open. Angus craned his neck to see through the door, but it was all a mysterious blackness.

Taako was the first to break the silence that followed. “Well, that was—that just went great. You know what, I’m gonna get in the next one first, because if it’s anywhere near as cool as this one, I wanna be the first to see it. So, out of the way. Taako’s rushing in!”

“What?” Magnus asked after Taako’s quickly retreating back. The fighter immediately moved to follow him, Angus following reluctantly. 

“Uh, I guess Merle’s good out here.” The dwarf said, making Angus pause halfway through the threshold to watch him incredulously. Then the cleric chuckled. “Nah, I’m just joshin’”

Angus had the distinct impression that he was missing out on some inside joke. 

He didn’t care enough to ask. 

Instead, he cast his eyes ahead in the pitch black room, honing in on the pedestal that sat in the only stream of light, presumably in the room’s center. As they neared, Angus noted that there was a screen wrapped around the pedestal, adorned with crude, pixelated renderings of the four of them with disturbing accuracy. 

Suddenly, the female elf’s voice sounded, just as nebulous and without visible source as before. “Only one of you will play this particular game. Let’s find out who it’s going to be.”

Faces spun across the screen around the podium, moving so quickly that Angus felt like he was going dizzy. After a moment, it stopped on Merle. Magnus lifted both hands, one lower than the other, for a high five from Taako and Angus. The detective was happy to oblige, though he pulled out his notes immediately afterwards. 

Merle stepped out and approached the podium, which lowered until it was presumably dwarf height. The elves explained this section of the ‘game’. Which Angus didn’t like any more than the first one. They explained that their group and another would have a chance to either trust or forsake another team, after which they would be sent into some kind of battle arena. Depending on whether they chose to trust or forsake, the difficulty of the coming battle would change. 

Taako immediately started yelling for the dwarf to press forsake, without listening to the rules. 

Magnus started yelling that he should trust, also without listening to the rules. 

Angus wanted to yell to ask him to listen to the rules, but considering this was Merle, he was worried that would result in the dwarf immediately hitting any button whatsoever. Finally, the female dwarf just interrupted to continue the instructions. 

Angus noted in his notebook: 

_ Trust (Us and Them) = Normal Trial  _

_ Forsake (Us and Them) = More Difficult Trial _

_ Forsake (Us) vs Trust (Them)= No Trial _

_ Trust (Us) vs. Forsake (Them) = Most Difficult Trial (BAD) _

He pondered that as cheesy music started playing and the other started to debate if the other team was the group that they had come in with. It was a difficult choice, choosing forsake would mean that you avoided the worst option, and had a chance at the best option, but it was certainly dooming someone else to a more difficult trial than choosing trust. A classic morality puzzle, do you harm someone else to make things easier on yourself, or do you- 

“Listen, Merle, I’ve thought about this, you got a one-in-three chance of it being bad, and a two-in-three chance of it being better. So if you hit trust and they hit trust it’s great. But if you both hit forsake, then… then it’s bad. It’s worse than before.”

What? That, that wasn’t right. That was the opposite of- 

Merle nodded at the wizard. “Alright, Taako? Make your case.” 

“Wait, sir, what Magnus said-” 

“Shh, I said it’s Taako’s turn.” 

Taako immediately started talking about the group that they had met on the way in, trying to convince Merle that they would have chosen to forsake. That prompted an argument over whether or not those specific people would forsake or not, and Angus was bouncing on his feet, waiting for his turn to talk. Taako ended his explanation by saying that they should trust, evidently agreeing with Magnus. 

“Okay. ...The, uh, the dryad lady kind of had a thing for me, I could tell, just looking at her, so-” 

“Wait, sir!” Angus interrupted as the cleric’s hand rose. “While trusting is very kind, you should know that tactically, I think hitting forsake would be better, because-

“TRUST!!!” The Dwarf interrupted with a yell, slamming on the button and casting Angus a triumphant look. Angus pouted, but was honestly happy that they had been kind enough to trust the others. 

Suddenly, the wall opposite the one they entered lit up, and giant words scrawled across it. The words read: “YOUR DECISION: TRUST”. A moment later, more words appeared. “THEIR DECISION: FORSAKE”

Merle cursed, as did Taako. 

“I told you!” The elf protested. Angus wanted to point out that  _ he  _ had told them, but he refrained as Taako continued. “But you know what? It doesn’t matter. If we had both forsaken, that would have been even worse.”

Okay, nope, I told you so it is. “Sir, this is the worst possible outcome for us. It literally could not get worse.” The boy stiffened to see black fog slipping out of his own mouth.

The male elf laughed. “Took the words right out of my mouth.” 

Ew. Angus didn’t like that.

A new door appeared, leading to yet another pitch black chamber. With a reluctant sigh, the child detective moved to go through it. 

Merle let out a low groan. “I don’t wanna gooo.” More smoke, Angus noted. 

“It’s gonna be fine. Don’t worry about it.” Magnus lied unconvincingly. 

“Somethin’ bad’s gonna happen to Taakoooooo…” The elf faux wailed, smoke trailing every word. 

“Uh, sir, we all have to go in there.” 

“What? No! We don’t have the bad luck thingy!” 

“I’m pretty sure that is completely irrelevant.” 

Merle groaned. “You suck!”

Taako rolled his eyes. “Let’s go.” 

“Hey, Taako?” Magnus interrupted, pointing out the same black fog that Angus had been noticing. The elf hummed a bit, glancing through a spellback he had in his bag that Angus had never seen him open, as though checking up on some obscure magic. “Mm-hmm. So, here’s my best guess, boys. My best guess is that this place—”

“Wait, hold on, hold on.” Magnus interrupted. “Pocket spa. Step in here with me real quick.” 

Angus nodded and eagerly followed them into the spa. It was a very good idea, hopefully while in the spa they could not only gain a small respite, but the creepy elves couldn’t hear what they were saying. 

Besides, the sandwiches had been very good last time. 

When they were all settled in the spa, Angus having made sure to grab one of the sandwiches that always seemed to be stocked, Taako began laying out his theory. 

“So here’s my best guess: This place isn’t trying to kill us. It just wants to make us miserable. It’s feeding off of that. Every time that we vocalize that, it knows that it is succeeding and it’s feeding off of that energy. That’s my best guess.” 

Angus nodded thoughtfully. It was a good theory, it seemed to make sense, and it fit with some of his other theories. They had gotten much better since the whole train debacle. “Do you think it’s necrotic then? There are some undead beings who sustain themselves on strong, usually negative emotions.” 

Taako nodded. “Looks like.” 

“I like that theory.” Magnus agreed. “So do you think it’s better to give it what it wants? Or to stay super positive?”

Taako scoffed. “What am I, a necrotic energy whisperer? I have no idea.” 

“I can’t imagine it would be good to give the being, or beings, any more power. I can’t be sure, but I would assume that happy is the way to go. Be-besides, it’s always useful to have a positive outlook on things.” Angus said, licking the last of the aioli from the snack off of his fingers. 

Magnus nodded. “Listen, we very rarely talk through this stuff. We usually just kind of wing it, so I’m very much enjoying it. I’m just trying to get a vibe on where you’re at.” 

“I’m really uncomfortable with it.” Merle protested, though he took the sandwich half Angus offered and took a large bite. “Let’s get out of here.”

“I mean, I’m with the little man.” Taako responded. “I don’t see any reason to feed it if we don’t have to. I mean it’s very much not in our nature to not grouse about but maybe we should try to stay posi about this whole experience.”

The fighter ginned. “Alright, let’s do this.”

They left the spa and made their way into the next room. Angus turned slowly, taking in the bright white space with copious amounts of unfamiliar machinery attached to the ceiling. As the door disappeared once more, three gigantic boxes fell from the air, lading with heavy clunks. Angus glanced at them, noting that they seemed to be similar to large dice, all with strange and alarming words written across them. 

“Welcome...to the Monster Factory!” The male elf yelled. “This is so exciting! So, three of you will roll a die and build a bespoke foe to square off against. It could be something new altogether, nobody knows! Now, based on the consequences of the Decision Game, there will be some… difficulties imposed on you during this challenge, but let’s not worry about that. Let’s roll those bones.” 

Merle offered to go first, but was interrupted by the female elf. “Now, you already took a turn at the decision game, what say you sit this round out so that everyone can have a turn at playing something.” 

The dwarf scowled, but stepped back to actually shove Angus at the nearest die. The child swallowed nervously as he lifted the heavy box and tried to give it a good throw. It bounced along the ground for a bit before finally landing on ‘slime’. The die immediately turned green and disappeared. 

Magnus and Taako both took a turn as well, until they are left with ‘regenerating, poisonous slime’. Not an easy monster persay, but not bad given the options. Given the black smoke, no one is willing to complain. 

“Great!” Taako yelled, somehow managing not to sound sarcastic. Merle and Magnus immediately catch on and start cheering as well, and Angus even manages a ‘woo hoo’ that sounds almost convincing. He watched in interest as the machinery moved, apparently starting the process of creating the regenerating, poisonous slime. 

Ironically, the only one to complain about the creature was one of their captors. “Aw, that’s so disappointing.” The female elf bemoaned. “I’ve  _ seen  _ a regenerating poisonous slime before.” 

“Oh, well that’s nothing to worry about.” The male elf consoled her. Angus was starting to get the image that when she was being consoled, they were being put in danger. “They didn’t win the decision game. So they’re gonna do it again.” 

Angus yelped and scrambled back when three more dice fell, landing a bit closer to him than he would like. 

Taako bit out “Son of a—” 

“Kind and generous person!” Angus interrupted, sending the elf a significant look as a bit of smoke leaked out of Taako’s mouth. 

“No, what fun!” Magnus yelled loudly. 

Merle muttered a curse before cheering more loudly, but smoke still escaped. 

“A second chance at a first impression!” Magnus continued as Taako eyed his own smoke, which was slowly billowing up to the ceiling. 

The elf cursed loudly at the sight, which just prompted more dark fog. The smoke prompted another curse, which led to more fog, which led to-

“Sir! Aren’t you excited to see how my combat magic is coming along.” Angus tried to end the cycle. Taako shot the boy a look that said,  _ I don’t really care _ , but seemed to see what the boy was trying to do, because he promised to be more zen. 

Magnus started his roll for the new monster. The elves didn’t protest when Merle pointedly moved to roll his own dice this time, and soon they were left facing the daunting task of fighting a regenerating poisonous slime and a flying, electrified dire bear. 

Angus’s dread was only matched by their ‘hosts’ excitement. 

“A flying, electrified dire bear! Wonderful! That would be what you would have to face if you both chose “betray”, but unfortunately you all are getting the sharp end of the stick, so to speak. So, one more die.”

One more large block fell from the ceiling. Angus moved toward it immediately, not wanting to be yelled at by the elves again for not ‘playing’ enough. Heaving the heavy box up, he tossed it, hoping against hope that whatever happened wouldn’t be  _ too _ bad. That hope disappeared when he saw the revealed word. 

The male elf laughed. “Oh, this is  _ delicious!  _ Not only are you facing off against a regenerating, poisonous slime and a flying, electrified dire bear, you’re going to face off against…  _ multiplying  _ regenerating, poisonous slimes and  _ multiplying _ flying, electrified dire bears. This is gonna get zany!” 

Angus said something that created a fog of black fog. 

__

The machinery above their heads started moving, making clunking and whistling sounds of production. Angus pulled out his crossbow so that it was in one hand and his wand was in the other, crossbow bolts in easy reach to reload. Suddenly, a large open-ended tube deposited a slime creature that ‘splorshed’ as it landed on the ground. Seconds later, one of the conveyor belts on the ceiling revealed a winged dire bear, which flew from its perch to land a few yards away with a roar.

Seriously, why had Angus followed after these guys again?

In response to the very serious threat, Taako turned, put his umbrella against his butt, made a fart sound and shot a laser that disintegrated the slime beast.

Oh yeah, he followed them because he loved them. 

The blow was enough to nearly kill the monster, but as the game was created by the messed-up elves, instead of dying the slime split into two, but the power of the attack was too strong, and even the new slimes took damage. For a few breathless moments, the slime just split and disappeared, split and disappeared, until the 15-foot beast was reduced to three globs the size of small dogs.

Meanwhile, Magnus was battling with the dire bear- bears, Angus amended as the dire bear multiplied to create an electrified double. Angus watched as the fighter avoided the attack of the electric beast, only to move right into the claws of the flesh and blood monster, who left a nasty swipe along the human’s side. The slimes at that moment regenerated, of course they did, until they were the size of a  _ large  _ dog, and attacked. One went after Taako, one Merle, and the last came for him.

Angus was too frozen to dodge, but Magnus took a moment from where he was, oddly, pouring out his waterskin on a length of rope to notice the attack. He hooked a foot around Angus’s backpack and pulled him back just as the monster lunged. “Protection Fighter for the win!” The man shouted as Merle and Taako were hit.

Merle immediately countered, casting a spell that created a  _ gigantic  _ pillar of fire big enough to catch all of the monsters they were battling. Angus yelped and backed up a couple feet. He wasn’t near enough to take damage, but the sudden heat had startled him. When the fire faded, only the flesh dire bear and one, extremely tiny, slime monsters remained.

“You’ve been a bad boy,” Magnus suddenly shouted at the bear, hefting his chance lance and a grappling hook which had been tied together with rope he’d been wetting earlier. “And you’re grounded!”

Immediately he moved, throwing the hook on a piece of Machinery and sending the lance flying at the electrified flying dire bear. The creature roared as electricity arched across the room, seizing in pain as it’s glorious wings smoked and burned and crumpled off,  _ grounding  _ the bear. The beast looked at Magnus with what almost seemed like some sort of animalistic respect as the fighter charged with his axe. Then Magnus completely whiffed the attack and all respect was lost.

Angus didn’t think he could do much against the bear, but he turned to the small slime beast and cast Ray of Frost. He didn’t have those impressive 6 th level spell slots, but freezing the gelatinous creature might keep it from regenerating as quickly, even if the small bit of damage wasn’t enough to destroy it completely.

As he’d hoped, the gel creature froze and he ran over to try just stepping on it, but before he could there was a shocked scream and a shattering crash. Angus whirled, feeling sick to his stomach to see Taako crushed under a large piece of machinery that had fallen from the ceiling. The elf was alive, blinking dazedly from where he was pinned and prone, but he… he didn’t look good.

“Taako!” The child yelled, abandoning his attack on the slime monster to rush to the elder wizard. He pulled at the machinery ineffectively, heart racing as fear flooded for him.

“That was… pretty unlucky.” The elf moaned as a piece of the machinery shifted. Suddenly the elf disappeared, the machinery falling to actual ground with a chunk. For a moment Angus stood frozen, still gripping a piece from when he was trying to pull it away. He realized that Taako must have cast a spell a moment later, but not in time to avoid a shockwave of electricity cast by one of the dire bears. The child yelped and jolted in pain as electricity shot through him, falling to his knees as the taste of blood filled his mouth from where he bit his tongue. Angus let out a small whine as he shakily rose to his feet, panting heavily as the movement made pain course through him.

Taako appeared again a few feet away, clutching his stomach and slumped over as though in pain. Angus started to move over to him, but the elf ambled forward to meet him halfway. “So, uh, I get the feeling that as an infant, you probably don’t have a whole lot of hit points to spare, do ya kid?”

“Not- not so many, sir.” He allowed, forcing himself to stand upright. “But uh, at this point I might have more than you, sir.”

One of the elf’s fantastically groomed eyebrows rose. “Fair enough, my dude.”

Still, the pair take a momentary breather to watch as Magnus got attacked by the slime who, though still ankle height, had plenty of poison it seemed. Merle cast a wind spell that destroyed what was left of the slime and the electric bear, and Angus looked at the cleric with a new light. Maybe he  _ hadn’t  _ been exaggerating when he told his kids that he brought the big guns.

Magnus pulled out what looked like a bag of jerky and tried to… Angus though the man was trying to  _ tame  _ the factory-made electronic dire bear by offering it processed meats. When that didn’t work (unbelievable, Angus was shocked) the man simply made a rude gesture at the beast off and ran at it with his axe held in both hands. This time he connected, the axe carving a chunk into the beast’s side as he darted in and away.

Wary of actually getting closer to the beast, Angus leveled a shot at it’s eye, but as he did his hand spasmed as an aftershock of the electricity and the shot went wild.

Then, Taako muttered. “You know what? I’m done.” He pointed his umbrella at the bear, no longer cracking any jokes as he created a forty foot high cylinder of ice that crashed onto the beat. For a moment it looked as though the monster was trying to charge through the column, but it was too thick, and by the time the pillar dissipated, the bear was dead with ice crusted onto its fur. Magnus immediately ran to hit at the bear with his axe, yelling “I wanna shatter him!”

Merle yelled something unintelligible in Beast Speak, probably something insulting given the circumstances. Not wanting to be left out, Angus hobbled over to level a kick at the downed monster. That hurt his ankle where the bolt had hit him, but it earned him a proud smile from Magnus which made it all worth it.

Then Taako fell to the ground and started coughing up blood, arms still wrapped around his waist. Angus left the bear to go to the man and heard from behind him a muttered, “Oh yeah, I should probably heal people or something.”

Suddenly, Angus felt a lifting of his pain, soreness leaving his muscles and the burn on his ankle scabbing over. It wasn’t much, but it helped, and he let out a sigh of relief.

The sign turned into a groan as two familiar and unwelcome figures appeared. “Now, hold on just a second.” The male elf commanded. “What do you think you’re doing?”

The female elf agreed. “That’s cheating! You know the rules: once you sacrifice something here, you don’t get it back!”

Angus stumbled back as he was hit with a bolt of necrotic damage, feeling the wounds that had just barely healed open once more with renewed pain. He shared panicked looks with the others, Taako’s ears laid flat in fear. Apparently, there was no healing in Wonderland.

The male fiend spoke up suddenly, making Angus jump.  “ Great job! Now, smile and show your opponents how well you did!” The duo disappeared, and suddenly one of the walls of the room was replaced with a screen displaying a pair of halfling strangers making rude gestures at them. “These two travelers are making great progress through Wonderland, they chose forsake when you chose trust so you have them to thank for that extra difficult challenge you just faced!”

Magnus waved wildly, mimicking the gesture back at the mean looking adventurers. He tried to prompt the others to join them, but Merle looked at him like he was crazy.

“You’re going to make smoke come out of your mouth like that.” The cleric scolded, and sure enough there was a dark fog spiraling from the fighter’s lips.

Immediately, Magnus switched the gesture to a thumbs up, waving with a large, false smile. If anything, they only sent the insulting moves harder, but now Magnus was enjoying this new game and instead sent them an elaborate ‘I love you’ message that just seemed to enrage them even more. Angus took the moment to sit down and get off of his sore ankle, and Taako was still throwing up blood. After a moment of this the screen flipped off and they were left a brief moment of respite.

The moment was quickly broken by a raspy, unfamiliar voice. “Wow, you guys sucked that round, huh? Why didn’t you pick “forsake”, y’all need to study some game theory!”

Angus frowned. That wasn’t like the elf voices, where their words seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere, filling the place. This sounded like… like it was coming from the wall over there. Trying to be silent despite the recent curse from the elves, the boy made his way over to the voice.

“H...Hello? Who, who goes there? Hello? Hail, and well met!” Magnus yelled, spinning ineffectively. 

“Come hither, and I will reveal to you my dark secret!” The voice said, trying to sound booming and mystical, apparently unaware of Angus’s sneaking.

Magnus glanced over at Angus and winked, blundering closer to the bit of machine the voice was coming from while exclaiming loudly.

Angus, who was much closer and much sneakier, slowly bent down to peek under the machinery, only to come face to literal face with a severed head.

“Aahhh!” He screamed, falling back as the head whirled on him. It was a  _ severed head. _

Magnus was suddenly there, bending over to look under the machine as well. He gave no reaction. “Oh, yeah, like, you scared the grade schooler but, I’ve seen worse. I just fought a flying bear, why would someone’s head bother me?”

Angus got the sense that he should feel embarrassed for being so startled, but it was a head without a body, sitting around talking. He thought his surprise was pretty reasonable.

The head was now looking at Angus. “Hey uh, small arms. Would you actually mind fishing me out of here for a bit? I been chilling under here for awhile, but I think we’re good for now.”

“O-o-of course sir, I apologize for yelling so close to your ear.”

“Eh, that’s fine kid. I’m pretty much 40% ear at this point, so…”

Angus squeezed himself under the machine and grabbed the head as gently as he could before squirming back out.

He presented the head to the others, carefully holding it-him- under the chin and above the forehead so that he could look at the others.

The head began to speak, and Angus had to fight not to grimace as it made the head shake in his hands. “Hey guys, my name’s Cam! Sorry I can’t greet you with a formal handshake-“

Magnus started cracking up. “That’s good!”

“-but it seems that I’ve misplaced my- my everything.”

“I love it!” The human fighter laughed. Angus wondered how long Cam had sat thinking of these introduction zingers.

“What are you guys doing here?” he asked.

“Oh, fighting bears.” Magnus said simply as his chance lance arched through the air to fall back into his hand.

“That’s kinda rude to do that in the middle of a conversation don’t you think?”

“I would get used to that, sir.” Angus said idly, wondering if someone else could take the head. He wondered as Magnus, Cam, and Merle debated the relative difficulties of losing a pinky vs. and arm vs. your entire body. He wondered it when the head started somehow bloodhound-ed out the fact that Magnus had a bag of Jerky. He wondered it as he had to hold the head as it ate. When Cam actually spit out the jerky in front of him, the child finally spoke up.

“Uh, gee Mr.Cam, sir, I’m awful short. Would it be more comfortable for you if someone taller held you?”

Taako smirked at him, obviously seeing through the ploy, but Merle offered “I can hold him.” Angus eagerly moved to hand off the head, but Magnus ruined it by pointing out that the dwarf was the same size as Angus.

The child scowled behind the head as Cam said, “Nah kid, it’s fine. Don’t make any difference to me.”

“Fantastic.”

“I like you guys, you guys seem like nice guys.” Cam said optimistically. “Uh, what brought you to Wonderland?”

Angus looked up. He actually hadn’t had time to ask about that yet.

“ Lookin’ for a bell.” Merle said, Taako quickly stepping up to agree. Cam seemed surprised about their prize, but Angus had already deduced that it was one of the pshhh items. Though what an all-powerful item called an (according to Merle)  _ enema  _ bell would do was an intensely disturbing concept.

Cam confessed that he had been trapped in Wonderland for a long time, and that he had a learned a few things because of it. He offered to help them get through Wonderland if they stuck together and didn’t make him do any more sacrifices.

Taako and Merle seemed reluctant, but as always Magnus was the more charismatic of the group. “Okay, right, listen I’m of the mind of you take help where you can get it, rustic hospitality and all that. So, uh, yeah, help us get a- _ head _ !”

Angus giggled at that, happy for the small break from the danger and seriousness of their current predicament.

Cam wasn’t so amused. “Okay that’s- if we’re gonna do this, then we can’t do that. Let’s just not do this whole-“

“Okay, can I do one? Can I do one more? Can I do one more, can I do one more?”

“You can do exactly one more, and then- but you- gimme some jerky for my discomfort. ”

Magnus did, and Angus’s nose scrunched in displeasure as Cam made a big show of chewing.

“I think, I think you’re going to be an excellent teacher and I can’t wait to get to the  _ head  _ of the class!”

“Okay, that was your one. You’re done now.”

“It’s okay sir,” Angus piped. “This way, we’ll be sure to win by a nose! As long as you aren’t too cheeky.”

There was a beat of silence in which Magnus grinned at him and no one else did anything.

“Alright,” Cam said. “I changed my mind. I want to let someone else carry me.”

“Maybe I oughta do it.” Merle offered.

Magnus just laughed. “Nope!” Took the head from Angus and stuffed it into his bag.

Angus handed him over easily. Mr.Cam seemed very nice so far, but holding a severed head eating jerky once was more than enough for one lifetime, and he’d had to do it twice already.

The human took the man out a second later, and Taako once more offered the pocket spa as a relaxing station for them to take a break and talk.

Magnus sat Cam’s head on a pile of pillows when they entered, and Angus went over to Taako with his bag of supplies and started rooting around for his fist aid kit. It wouldn’t necessarily heal the man, but a few braces and some prevention against infection couldn’t hurt.

The sight seemed to get to Merle, as his first question for Cam was why they couldn’t heal. Cam pointed out that the entire purpose of Wonderland was to make people suffer. Angus thought that he probably should have gathered more information before blindly following the three in here.

Then Cam complained that they were in an endless cycle that would only end in death, after a good deal of suffering, and Angus huddled in on himself. He didn’t- he had always worried that he would die young, especially the first few years after the orphanage went under, but to be told so certainly, so matter-of-factly… it made him feel chill with fear.

The boy scowled and pulled himself from his thoughts, straightening and going for his notebook. No, he wasn’t just some kid, he was a detective. He was the  _ world’s greatest  _ detective, and he would act like it. If he had doomed himself, well, that was over and done. No use constantly berating himself for following them, when in all likelihood he would have tried to help even if he’d know the risks. No, if he was going to die here, he was going to make it a challenge for them. With that, he firmly pushed down his self-preservation instinct, giving his detective instinct full reign. 

He turned to a new page and put the pen to the pad. It was time to get to work.

Magnus asked about the smoke, and Angus finally piped in with a question of his own, face set and determined. “They’re liches, aren’t they?”

“You know about liches?” Cam asked, surprised.

“They were in  _ Caleb Cleveland and the Undercover Undead _ . I did some research after reading the book, because they seemed like formidable enemies and I wanted to be prepared.”

“Well, are you prepared?”

The child grimaced. “I came to the conclusion that the best way to prepare to fight a lich was to prepare to run away. Or call a reaper.”

Taako suddenly perked up. “Oh, I know a reaper.” He reached for his stone, but only scowled when it failed to work. “Never mind.” He grumbled.

Magnus raised his hand. “Uh, I totally know what a lich is, but do you maybe want to explain. Not for me, of course, but maybe just so like, so I know that what you know is accurate.”

“Liches are beings created using dark, forbidden necrotic magics.”

“Yo,” Taako interrupted. “Isn’t that when like, a magic boy goes off the deep end and tries to combine their magic and their soul so that they don’t, like, die?”

“That’s the one! And they’re almost always incredibly unstable. The dark magic just has too much power, it can be very difficult to control so they just kinda go on killing sprees. It isn’t usually as… well put together as Wonderland. I’m assuming that I’m right then, they are liches.”

“Yeah, you hit the nail on the head with that one.” Cam admitted.

“What I don’t understand though, is how they are being so controlled and methodical. Most liches are absolutely mindless beings.”

Cam nodded. “See, if a lich can, um.. can anchor themselves with a powerful enough sort of emotional attachment, then they can sort of maintain their identity and they can maintain their sanity and I wonder - have you guys ever witnessed like, a magic that’s kinda more powerful than you could explain? That was sort of born out of a moment of intense passion or emotion?”

The three all clamored in agreement, but Angus was mostly thinking of Taako’s umbrella. It seemed to often produce magic that he couldn’t entirely explain, either due to the power or even sometimes the spell being cast. Somehow though, somehow, he was having difficulties thinking about the Umbra Staff and liches at the same time. That was… significant wasn’t it? It was important when he couldn’t fill in the blanks to something, wasn’t it.

He flipped back to his notes on the staff, jotting down that he had difficulty connecting it to liches before turning back to his current notes as conversation grew more relevant again. Cam explained that there was a school of thought that believed that emotions were a form of energy powerful enough that it could have a physical effect on spells. He believed that if the attachment was powerful enough, it could sustain the lich. Angus frowned as he wrote. That would explain why the lich in the Cleveland novel was so cognitive, the book had actually mentioned that very theory. He hadn’t come across it again in his additional research, so he’d thought it was just a bit of story fiction, but if it was real…

“So, these liches have discovered a way to use other people’s strong emotions to keep their minds and forms intact.” He said, amazed but completely confident in his deduction.

“Yeah, s pecifically, suffering. So, that’s why you’re here, and that’s what they’re gonna get out of you, whether you like it or not. Wow, you uh, you caught onto that pretty quick.”

“That’s Ango!” Taako ruffled his hair. “Smart as a whip, I trained him, after all.”

“You only trained me in magic, sir. Not deductive reasoning.”

“Shhhhhhh” The elf said loudly, smushing a finger against the child’s lips. Angus rolled his eyes over a smile, even as his mind whirled on what this could mean for them.

Magnus spoke up before he could say anything, suggesting that since the game was definitely rigged against them (setting them up to die) they had to find a way to rig it, to get around the game and stop playing by the rules. Angus nodded eagerly, awaiting the fighters plan.

“I don’t- I don’t have any specifics for that, but everyone keep your eyes open.”

Or, not so much a plan, but Angus would keep his eyes and ears open.

“Taako?” The fighter continued.

“Hm?”

“I would like you to pick the word, that’s gonna be the word to let us all- like, let the four of us know that it’s about to happen. That it’s time to make our move. ”

“Okay, I talk almost constantly, and  I’m being tasked now with coming up with like  _ a word.”  _ The elf pondered for a moment. “Uh, okay, I got it: The.”

“I don’t think that’s such a great idea sir, that could cause some confusion.”

“It’s called stalling while I think of a good answer, bubbelah. Okay, I got it!” The chef proclaimed. “How about ‘sauté’?”

Angus nodded, that was perfect. It fit Taako, and that should make it easy to remember.

Magnus seemed ready to rush into the next challenge, but Cam-still propped against the pillows- interrupted. “Um, do you think I can come with you guys?”

“Fine, yeah.” Magnus said easily.

“If I– if I join your group everything’s gonna get just a little bit harder for you guys, you’re gonna have to sacrifice a bit more if I go with you. You’re gonna have to take on my sacrifices because, well, look at me. I don’t really have anything else to give. Um.. so if I come with you it will be a little harder, but I promise I can carry my weight, I can help you out with information and tips and tricks!”

Angus frowned. He wasn’t sure he liked the idea of more sacrifices, especially if they would get harder each round, but he certainly wasn’t interested in leaving Mr.Cam all alone in this place. He would do what he would have to do.

“I have, I have an idea! Right now here in the pocket spa we’re in a pocket dimension, right?”

“Yeah? I don’t know– you’re asking me, I don’t know.”

“You hang out in here, and we’ll check in with you when we need you. If you’re more like, crafty, I have a pocket workshop you could wait in instead.”

“Spa or place covered in sharp tools… hm, that’s a toughie but I think I’ll stick here.”

“How many different pocket dimensions do you guys have?” Angus asked.

“Just 2.” Magnus answered, as though pocket dimensions weren’t incredible and rare.

“Yeah, I didn’t get one.” Merle grumbled. “One pocket garden, that’s all I want.”

“We all know what you would do in a pocket garden, old man.” Taako said, sounding disgusted. “Trust me, no one wants a part of that.”

Angus was very curious about what Merle would supposedly do in a pocket garden.

… on second thought, he didn’t want to know. 


	8. The Suffering Game Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.... ANGST is coming!  
> (I have so much fun writing angst it's a problem please send help) 
> 
> Again, thank you to my amazing loyal reviewers!! You guys are amazing and give me inspiration to write!

The four adventurers and a hidden head made their way out of the pocket dimension, back into the monster factory room and then through it to the sacrifice room once more. Except this time, there were five dull red circles above the door.

The female elf’s voice suddenly sounded. “That’s right! You’re spinning the wheel again, only she’s a bit hungrier this time. The sacrifices demanded will be a little bit... _brutal_. Also, you’ve added another member to your party, I’m not really sure how you did that, but you will need to complete FIVE sacrifices if you want to pass on to the next chamber.”

“What member?” Magnus asked, voice high pitched. “Whaaaahhhhold on I believe if you count, you will find here but four.”

“I don’t know of any fifth member, no fifth member at all.” Angus added to the protest.

Taako cut in “Yeah, do a quick head count!”

“I said no more!” Cam’s voice shouted from Taako’s bag and Angus face palmed as the other three shushed him.

“Hey, what if we said no?” Magnus asked.

The male elf’s voice sounded confused as he answered “I don’t understand…?”

“Well, what if we just don’t?”

“Then you– then you lose.”

“Well, I mean yes, but I would also like to know the parameters, like I’m just wondering - like I get what the win scenario is, what’s the lose scenario here?”

“You don’t get your…? You just don’t get your prize.”

“And you let us go, we leave? That’s it?” Angus shot his head up at that. No, it couldn’t be _that_ easy…

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, once you start through Wonderland, you have to finish!” Right, of course not.

“We _can_ finish though, right?” Taako confirmed.

“Yeah, of course.”

Merle asked then, “Yeah, you wouldn’t just send us into something we couldn’t finish?”

“Let’s see, let’s see, if you finish you’ll end up getting… Ohohoho. So that’s your prize, huh? Hmm. Okay, well yeah, you’re making good progress, let’s see what you can do!”

Then the room was filled with the tinkling sound of a ringing bell. 

Angus’s head shot up. They were, they were looking for a bell were they. Could it be that the crazy bell was what was actually _powering_ Wonderland, making it possible? 

It seemed impossible, but then, so did everything that happened in Goldcliffe. So did the thing that caused Refuge. These things contained a power the likes of which he hadn’t known was possible. He eyed his companions. It was a good thing they were finding them, destroying them. They were too powerful. They had to be stopped, and Angus would do whatever he could to help make that happen. 

“So?” The male elf lead. “Who wants to go first? And who wants to go twice?” 

“Uh, I-I’ll go?” Magnus offered uncertainty. 

“I think I actually am the best off, you know, health wise.” Merle offered. “Believe it or not. In fact, I’ll go twice.” 

“Thank you, sir.” Angus said with a smile toward the dwarf. “That was very brave and kind of you.” He almost added that Mavis and Mookie would be proud before remembering his promise. 

“Yeah,” Magnus added. “Merle, I just wanna say I really appreciate you taking the hit and doing both times.”

“Well thank you.” Merle said, puffing up at the praise. He walked over to the wheel and pulled at one of the spokes. It didn’t spin right away so he tired the other way, struggling to actually get it moving. 

“Yeah you just spin it buddy, come on.” Magnus prompted. 

“Yeah, I did! At least, I’m trying.” Finally it moved, spinning around. “Oh, I got the same as last time: eye.”

“Oh, let me guess, I’m colorblind.”

“No, it’s going to be a bit more severe than that.” The male elf said gleefully. “Usually we don’t have so many repeat landings like that, so I feel really sorry for your peepers.” He didn’t sound sorry. 

“Wait,” Magnus tried. “That one was for Cam, he’s got eyes.”

“For who?” 

“For the fourth presence that you have detected- don’t act- this isn’t like a surprise, come on, you know about him.”

“That won’t work, sir.” Angus pointed out. “We made a deal with Cam to take on his sacrifices for his help. Besides, Merle was the one to spin. I don’t think we can take other people’s sacrifices.”

“That’s right.” Their captor responded. “You fella’s really need to pay better attention to the rules.” 

“Hey, we- listen.” Taako protested. “Like, every day that passes for you guys in here, it’s been weeks or like a month for us. We can’t- we can’t remember this kind of stuff.” 

Angus… Angus wasn’t even going to try to understand that statement. Besides, Merle had apparently resigned himself to his fate. 

“No, I’ll take the lumps, give me the lumps, bring it, give me your best shot, you son of a lich.”

The elf did in fact give his best shot. “Unfortunately, this is gonna be a pretty tough game for your peepers it sounds like, Merle, or, should I say your peeper. Because the penalty for this round, landing on eye, is... is one of 'em.”

Angus gasped, he was losing his whole eye? This round was already more serious. The elves promised that the eye removal wouldn’t be grisly, but apparently Merle’s only hang up was that he wanted a cool eyepatch in return. 

Of course it was. 

Angus was not at all surprised that the dwarf would make the odd request, he was a little surprised at how quickly and easily the elves agreed to it. They even let him design it. 

Angus wandered around the room silently as the other three quibbled over what the eyepatch would look like, looking for anything that would prompt him to say ‘sauté’, but it was as barren as he’d been expecting. 

He’d just turned to walk back to the group when suddenly there was a semi-translucent figure in red hovering in front of him. “Angus?” It asked in an unfamiliar voice. “But how? You shouldn’t be-” 

Angus watched the ghostly creature- another lich, he was sure of it- with wide eyes. He opened his mouth to question it, but the ghost put a skeletal finger to its hood near where its mouth would be, a universal sign for quiet. “Please, I-I’ll explain later.” It said. 

Angus narrowed his eyes but nodded, eyeing the red of the cloak. His notebook was already in hand and he scrawled a question, the only question he could think to ask a lich in red. _Are you the one that saved Merle’s kids?_ Really he was asking, could I trust you, the liches answer would tell him either way. 

“You were there?” The ghost breathed, and Angus took that for confirmation. “You were so close and I didn’t- but you found them. Somehow you found them.” 

Angus began writing again, and halfway through writing ‘ _found what?’_ he looked up to see that the lich had disappeared. The boy looked at his companions nervously, but Mr. Red-Lich asked him not to say anything, and he’d been the one to protect Merle’s kids. He wasn’t sure how but… this lich still had its facilities too, and he seemed a lot kinder than their current captors. He would listen, for now. 

He scurried back to the group before they could start looking for him, noting that Merle now had a diamond-shaped owl eyepatch over his left eye. Agnus had to admit, it looked pretty sick.

Magnus went to the wheel next, spinning it idly. Angus got on his tippy toes to see the man land on the image of a clock. 

The female captor explained “Uh- this one is kind of a tough pill for most participants to swallow, because what you're going to have to sacrifice is... time, Magnus, and as a human, unfortunately, that’s in somewhat short supply for you. For this round of the wheel, we're gonna need ten years. If you choose this, you will instantly age ten years.”

Angus straightened. Age ten years? That was… interesting. With one spin, he could be an adult in an instant. He wouldn’t have to try and find a hotel seedy enough to let a child get a room by themselves. He wouldn’t have to deal with the disappointment on his clients face when he showed up and they saw his youth. He could be stronger, taller. He wouldn’t be ignored or underestimated. People wouldn’t try to scam or underpay him as much. The Neverwinter Militia wouldn’t fire him for getting hurt.

He looked up at the wheel sharply, barely noticing the gray in Magnus’s hair and the crow’s feet and smile lines on his face. He took his turn at the wheel, barreling past a surprised-looking Taako who had been walking over. He didn’t- he could calculate the force needed precisely. Maybe with a physics book and a few hours he could figure it out, but for now he would have to rely on memory. Last time he’d spun it so hard and it ended up two panels away, so this time… 

He spun the wheel with an intensity and concentration that had his companions asking goofy questions in the way that meant that they were worried and needed some kind of response to reassure them that he was okay. 

He didn’t say anything, just spun. He held his breath as it slowed, slowly turning to the clock, and then going on. Finally it stopped, the arrow settled on the very last rung on his desired sacrifice. The boy sighed, then turned back to the group with a fake put-upon expression. “O-oh darn. I can’t believe that I got the same thing. Oh no.” No dark fog left his lips. 

“Wow, lot of repeats here. This doesn’t, this doesn’t usually happen like this.” The female elf said. 

“Nope.” Magnus said.

“Sir?” Angus asked, confused. 

“I am currently in denial that Angus will ever age, ever. So we’re gonna pass on this one, right?” 

“I’m down.” Taako said. 

Merle grunted. “Do whatever you like.” 

“Um, it’s okay sirs. You all took your sacrifices, uh, bravely, and so I can too! I mean, gosh darn it’s a shame, but it’s for the greater good.” They didn’t seem convinced. 

Even the elves sounded disbelieving. “It’s no fun if you want it to happen.” The female one complained. 

“Not really a sacrifice then, either.” The male mused. “So, to make this a proper sacrifice, how about this: we are going to make this time sacrifice a little unique, in honor of our youngest competitor.” 

Angus started to feel worried. “O-okay?” 

“Yes, why don’t we instead just… pause time for you a little bit, hm? Yes, that will do nicely. So, Angus dear, if you accept this sacrifice then you will remain at your current age for the next, hm let’s keep it consistent and say the next ten years. After that, you will age normally. Your life expectancy will still be roughly 80 years, but you will look around 70 at the time. That is your sacrifice Angus.” 

Angus was frozen with eyes wide and heart heavy. He should- he should have known. He wouldn’t-couldn’t get that lucky. He should have realized that they would twist it, make it something so opposite from what he wanted. Another ten years being maybe-eleven? 17 more years before he was 18? Could he go that long hopping from place to place, hoping that people wouldn’t mind his age, taking whatever work he could? He didn’t want it.

But that was the point of a sacrifice, wasn’t it? And hadn’t he already determined that getting the ball back was more important than himself? 

“I… I accept.” He said, the disappointment in his voice far more genuine. 

Magnus however, was grinning broadly. “I am okay with this.” 

Taako knelt down to ruffle Angus’s hair, and the boy though in a moment of spite that if his plan had worked, he wouldn’t have had to bend down. “Don’t look so glum, chum. You got like, a free little boost on the ol’ fountain of youth. Not bad, eh?” 

Angus forced a fake smile on his face. “I-I guess so, sir.” 

“Eh,” Magus said dismissively. “You see the problem is, Ango, is that you aren’t actually a kid. You’re like, a middle aged man in a kid body. Don’t worry, we can teach you how to be a kid.” 

“Yeah, who uh, what better teacher for that could you find than us?” Taako laughed as Magnus continued. 

“Kick a soccer ball around, play with some toys, you’ll love it.” 

Well, that… that actually did sound kind of nice. He did like being a child when visiting the Boylands, and with Merle’s kids. He had some friends that he couldn’t hang out with if he’d actually become a 20 year old in an instant. Maybe he could… maybe he could learn not to mind this sacrifice. 

At the moment, he felt pretty shattered though. 

“I gotta say, you guys are really taking this in stride.” The male elf said, sounding respectful if a little annoyed.

“You know, I’m just happy to be here.” Magnus shrugged. 

“Just make the best of a bad situation.” Taako said as he sauntered over to the wheel casually. “Okay, I got body.” 

When the elves gleefully declare that from the second round on, sacrificing body sacrifices vitality instead of ability like the first round, Taako just shrugs. He accepts the sacrifice, the curse of being a bit more fragile and prone to sickness for the rest of his life without any immediate side effects, with nothing more than a ‘sure’. 

The male elf started to sound concerned. “I don’t know, maybe we should go harder on them? They don’t seem to be... that upset about all this-” 

Angus had been kind of upset, but he wasn’t going to point that out now. After all, he hadn’t really complained. Out loud. 

“Come on! Do it!” Taako goaded. 

Magnus agreed cheerfully “We're having a great time, its real fun, I like the challenge, y’know?”

“What a great opportunity to branch out!” Angus piped in. 

Magnus and Taako continued, hyping each other up with increasing intensity until the elf actually stalked over to spin the wheel in his fervor. 

“Wait!” Merle jumped forward. “I wanted to do it!” 

“Oh yeah.” The elf said, stepping back for the dwarf. 

The dwarf spun, landing on a new tile that simply said ‘Chance’. 

The female elf spoke up, explaining that the unlucky soul to land on ‘chance’ would have to make their own sacrifices, something equal to the other sacrifices. If you gave up enough, the round would end. If not, you lost your sacrifice and had to try again with a completely new sacrifice. 

“What do you have that’s worth ten years?” Magnus asked. 

“Well– I’ve had my trusty Warhammer since I was just a little sprout, so that’s over 50 years.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works, sir.”

“You’re 10, I could get rid of you.” The man grumbled. 

“11 sir,” Maybe. “You were literally there on my birthday. We stopped an evil god from rising? Anyway, that’s really not how this works.” 

“Alright, fine! Then, hmm… it’s got to be something big, right? Something important. Well, pretty much the only useful weapon I have is the Adamant Spanner that Hurley gave me a while back. That would be a pretty good thing.” 

“Probably not enough my dude. I’m looking out for _you_ here, don’t want you to lose the spanner for nothing.” 

“Oh, I give up my wooden arm!” He proudly proclaimed, moving to detach it. 

“No no no no no!” A chorus of three other voices sounded. 

“No?” 

“Too much. That’s too much.” Magnus said, as Taako and Magnus clamored in agreement.

The dwarf was silent for a moment and nodded, pulling a chain with a simple ring on it from under his armor. “I have my wedding band. Pretty much the only happy memories, from when my little family was still intact.”

Angus’s heart ached at that, at the wistful looks Merle cast the band, at his memories of the way Mavis and Mookie hung onto his every word. “You- you know sir, it doesn’t have to be physical things, I don’t think. You could give up skills or memories or something like that, maybe.” 

The dwarf nodded, but put the ring on the wheel. He eyed it sadly, but at the same time his shoulders lightened as though a weight had been lifted. 

“That’s not a bad idea, I know how to use like, a ton of weapons I’ve never even really used.” Taako added. Huffing out a laugh. “If I get this, I’m giving up my nunchuck ability.” 

“Nunchucks sir?”

“I did this thing for the show with a string of sausage links where, you know what, never mind. Story for another time.” 

“I could give up my battle axe proficiency. I mean, I haven’t touched a battleaxes since this whole campaign started. Okay, that’s it. I’m giving up my Adamant Spanner, wedding ring, and axe proficiency.” 

The male lich replied. “And that’s uhhhh, that’s it huh? That’s all you're, uh-- That's all you’re gonna give up? That’s fine, that might be enough, I-- hmm.”

“Final answer.” Merle said with one final nervous glance back at the other three. Immediately the spanner and ring disappeared, and Merle froze for a moment before suddenly cradling his forehead with a groan. “Ugh, got a headache there.” 

The wheel lowered once more, and the stone door opened. Angus looked around for Mr. Red-Lich, but if he was still there, he was still invisible. 

Taako mused “So, I guess that answers what happened to The Director, huh?

“Yeah.” Magnus responded. 

“Director?” Angus asked. 

“Yeah, you know, the director of the ****************.” 

“Oh. I uh, I just got the static sir. It’s fine. Um, I think Cam wants out though.” He pointed to where the head was bulging against Taako’s bag. The elf pulled him out and Magnus grabbed a length of rope out of his own bag. 

“I’m tying you to my shoulder like a backpack so that we don’t have to keep doing this.” 

“Kay.” The head hummed, before thanking them for taking the sacrifice for them, pointing out that his eyes were one of like, three things he had left. He’d seemed pretty shocked to see Magnus’s age, and Angus had to wonder if it was a rare roll for the head not to have seen it before. 

He was still pondering it when he noticed Magnus sending a _Thieves Cant_ message on the back of his hand. He knew thieves cant, of course. He was a detective who spent several formative years on the streets, he had a lot of unusual skills. Many of which he was not proud of. Magnus didn’t know that though, so who could he be signaling? Angus stiffened as his deductive reasoning yelled at him. Magnus was signaling Mr. Red-lich. The boy relaxed, trusting the strange lich even more now, since Magnus appeared to. 

Though, hadn’t Merle said before that the lich was stalking them? Maybe he shouldn’t be relaxing. Magnus wasn’t known for being the _best_ judge of character.

He still chose not to reveal the mysterious figure's presence, and instead followed the other three into the next chamber in contemplative silence. It was the ‘trust or forsake’ room again, which worried Angus. He didn’t know if they could go through another battle like that. Strike that, he knew they couldn’t. 

Immediately upon entering the chamber, Taako cast mage hand, sending the spectral blue hand across the room to smack into the ‘forsake’ button. 

Nothing happened. 

“Oh, just a minute, sweetheart,” The female elf chided. “We haven’t begun the game yet, we have to see who is gonna be our player this time!”

“Hey!” Magnus suddenly interrupted. “Can I ask you elves a question?” 

“Sure, shoot, we can’t promise that we’ll answer.”

Then Magnus, wonder upon wonders, asked if the whole Wonderland loop was _boring_ for the elves. Angus had to bite back a giggle, because that was not a question he ever would have even considered, but the answer could be immensely important. It was, in fact, very interesting. The elf boasted incredible variety within wonderland, and almost immediately deflected to the ‘prize’ they could look for.

Taako took that lead to ask how many rounds it would take to get to the prize. 

The female lich responded. “Hmmm, it’s subjective. How many roads must a man walk down before you can call him a man?”

“Six.” Magnus and Taako said simultaneously. 

“I think it’s six.” Magnus added. 

“It's four.” Merle said just as certainly. 

“I believe it’s eight, at the very most.” Angus added. 

“Four to eight, so an average of six.” The fighter said definitively. 

The female elf claimed that the Wonderland prize had to be earned, but when Taako asked how many prizes they had passed out that year, the lich had the nerve to say 30. 

“Wow. I don’t believe you.” Taako said flatly. 

“Bull.” Magnus yelled at the air. 

“Lying lychee.” Merle contributed. 

“I deduce, that is 100% untrue.” Angus added. 

“How many people have died?” Taako asked. 

“Oh-ho, more than thirty!” The female proclaimed joyfully.

“Give me a percentage!” The wizard demanded. Rather than answer, the liches did whatever magic they had and made the screens around the podium spin until it landed on Taako. After a brief argument between Cam, Magnus, and Taako, the elf slammed on forsake despite Magnus’s ardent disapproval. 

As before, the screens are suddenly filled with large text: YOUR DECISION: FORSAKE

THEIR DECISION: TRUST

A bit of confetti fell from the ceiling as Taako and Cam cheered. Angus didn’t react. He didn’t know _how_ to react. He felt bad about the other victims, but his ankle still hurt and a deep-set soreness had formed in his muscles. He was so glad they wouldn’t have to fight again quite yet.

Despite the victory, once more they were met with a pitch black doorway that they couldn’t see into, just as ominous as all of the others.

“Onward, I guess.” Magnus said, heading through the door with a shrugging Merle casually following. Taako and Angus brought up the rear, the elf’s former enthusiasm for wonderland had long since disappeared.

They stepped into what looked like a giant board game. A winding path of multicolored tiles created a twisting path in front of them, some had words on it that Angus wasn’t able to see from far away. A noxious green ooze bubbled beneath them, and the ceiling seemed to be in constant motion as bats shifted and moved and squeaked. A few detached from the ceiling and were headed their way when the entire scene seemed to stop.

“Oh dear, this shouldn't have– this shouldn’t have manifested this way, you won the last round; pardon our mess!” their captor said, and suddenly it was as though the very fog they had been leaking fell from the ceiling and covered the game set. Angus blinked and jotted that down. It did nothing more than add weight to the claim that their negative emotions were helping to maintain the place, but he liked his notes.

When the smoke cleared, they were each standing behind a podium in a gaudily-painted and brightly-lit room and being watched by what appeared to be a studio audience. Angus looked around, seeing a curtain hiding something, and what appeared to be hundreds of figures cheering for them.

“Was, uh, was this what your cooking show was like?” He asked Taako, trying for levity.

“Pshh, my shows had a much bigger fan base, kiddo. They were a lot more enthusiastic too.” The elf boasted.

“Free food’ll do that.” Magnus agreed easily.

Merle began to say something, but was interrupted by the male elf shouting in a broadcasting voice “Live from the inescapable depths of Wonderland, it’s time for another round of Heart Attack, the heroic dating show. And here's your hosts, Lydia and Edward!”

Angus straightened. Names, those were names. That was important. As was the word _inescapable_ but he would worry about that later. The elves appeared out of nowhere, in different but equally over-the-top outfits and posing with a passion as the canned cheering grew louder and louder.

The female elf, Lydia, asked “Welcome to Heart Attack! Are you three brave heroes ready for your only chance at love?”

“Uh, pass.” Magnus said blandly.

The female elf smiled at him nastily. “That's not an option, unfortunately. You don't have to play the deadly round, but we're still gonna have a little bit of fun. Doesn't that sound good?”

“Yeah, sure.” Taako said, dully and wholly uninterested.

“Yeah, uhh.. eh.” Merle said in the same tone.

Magnus tied again. “I mean… I cannot stress enough how uninterested I am in this.”

“We're not gonna have a good time with it,” Taako complained. “but we're pretty much prisoners I guess-- By the way! You did just say inescapable, so, like, how are things going? Pretty bad, it seems?” A bit of the smog left Taako at that, but interestingly, as Angus watched it he noticed that a portion of it wasn’t rising to the ceiling. It was as if a part of it were being siphoned away.

A sheet of fabric rose from the air a few feet from their podiums, and behind it was a figure making odd, jerky movements as if they were a marionette. The figure waved at them, and Angus got the impression that if they could see its eyes (assuming it even had eyes) it would be winking.

Edward, the male elf, explained, “We're going to ask a series of questions to measure your compatibility with our hot contestant. Whoever charts with the highest lovability quotient will get a hot date out of it, are you ready?”

Magnus, Merle and Taako all mumbled unenthusiastic agreements, but Angus rose his hand, finally connecting the dots to what was going on. He’d been too focused on the smog to really look around, but now he got the picture and he didn’t like it. “Um, may I please… sit out on this one or something please? Since I am 11 and that makes this really gross.”

The elves paused, frozen in one of their more ridiculous vogues as they eyed him.

“Hmmm, we forgot about that.” Edward admitted.

“Yeah, it really isn’t every day that we get someone so young to join our games.” Lydia added, looking pensive. “Well, I suppose you can sit out, but then you wouldn’t get a chance to win…”

“I- I’m ok with that, Ma’am.”

“Hey, how come Angus got to pass?” Magnus asked.

“Well, he had a bit of a better reason.” Edward explained, snapping his fingers. Angus’s podium was replaced by a tall stool. “But pay attention Angus, you will have another parent soon, and whoever our lovely contestant ends up with could have some… interesting effects on your upbringing.”

“That’s still pretty gross, sir.” Angus said, ignoring the smog that left his own mouth.

The silhouette behind the divider blew a kiss and Angus shuddered. That seemed to be Magnus’s breaking point too.

“No, you know what? I’m not doing this.”

“What do you mean?” Edward asked.

“I don't wanna play.”

“You have to play or you can't move on.”

“Well, I mean I'm gonna stand here, but I'm not gonna- I hate this.” As the fighter spoke and complained, the smog was billowing out of his mouth, flowing out of him emphatically and easily. Angus, knowing well what the man was doing as it had been exactly what he had been trying (he hadn’t expected the elves to agree, regardless of how gross). As before, a large portion of the smog broke from the main bulk of it, though the liches were luckily too distracted making exaggerated faces for the crowd to notice.

Angus took a breath, taking his five seconds to arrange his thoughts. The black smoke was created by strong negative emotions. This place absorbed negative emotion. It absorbed negative emotion because the liches needed it. Their captors had no reason to separate some smoke from the rest. They weren’t doing this. Presumable, all liches could use it. There was another lich here, other than the twin elves. Mr. Red-Lich was absorbing some of the negative emotions. Mr. Red-Lich had helped them in the past, and hadn’t hurt Angus. This was a good thing.

As if to support his thoughts, the two turned to Magnus and the siphoning stopped immediately, proving that whoever was doing it didn’t want to get caught by their captors.

Angus had to fight not to sigh in relief. This was a good thing.

“Alright, fine, fine.” Magnus grumbled, not sounding any more enthusiastic than before. “Let's play.”

The game apparently consisted, well was supposed to consist of the ‘contestant’ asking questions that the others would answer in hopes of winning their affections, but of course Magnus, Merle and Taako played it a very different way. They seemed to be having a ‘who could give the absolute worst answer’ contest, which Merle seemed to be winning pretty handily. Especially once Magnus’s healthy competitive drive kicked in and he started trying to win, despite having less than no desire for the prize.

However, the three of them were handily taking up everyone’s attention, which suited Angus just fine. Nearly silently he uttered a curse, and was gratified when the smoke was diverted a few inches away. He turned to a new page in his notebook.

_Will taking our negative emotions effect you?_

He then laid his pencil down on the page, not touching it. After a second, it moved seemingly on its own.

**_No. I have better control than that._ **

_Are you here to-_ Angus jumped as the audience reacted violently to whatever Taako said, someone even throwing a chair onstage. He looked up in time to see Taako subtly twist his wand, a bolt of energy arching from it to the figure behind the screen. The contestant suddenly started laughing uproariously, falling off of its chair and even losing its head. Angus watched in horror as the figure simply flailed, uncontrollable and headless, as the hysteric laughter continued. He tried to focus back on his silent conversation, because anything was better than focusing on that. He crossed off ‘here to’

 _Are you going to help us get out of here?_ Angus felt a pressure land on his shoulder, and it was somehow comfortable (familiar?), despite it all.

**_If it’s the last thing I do, pal._ **

Without warning, Taako started shouting in the chaos, cursing and complaining and arguing, a massive fog billowing around him. The pressure on Angus’s shoulder disappeared, and the boy turned to see Magnus staring at him with serious concentration.

No, not at him, at a spot right above him.

At Mr. Red-Lich. 

The elves continued on the game, completely ignorant of the third lich in their midst. After a few more questions they called an end to the game, lifting the screen around their ‘contestant’ to a grisly sight. The mannequin was still making weak pseudo-laughing sounds, head several feet away from the body and one leg occasionally thumping on the ground. The sight was odd enough that even Edward and Lydia seemed concerned. 

“Well… Hm. Well, we learned everything we need to know, so… I guess let’s… call it a draw? Let’s move on. This has gotten frankly a little too weird, even for us.” He turned to lead them out, mostly ignoring Magnus’s questions regarding whether or not he’d ‘won’. Suddenly he stopped. “Oh, wait, we need to find out how your opponents in the last round of Trust or Forsake fared!”

Taako murmured, “Probably pretty bad, huh?”

A screen appeared behind the two, revealing the image of three figures that Angus didn’t really recognize, but seemed to impact his companions. All three shared a guilty look as they glanced over the battle-damaged strangers, and Magnus pointed to Taako when one of them mouthed ‘why’ at the screen. 

The elves seemed to notice the general physical and emotional wear on their group, as Lydia asked. “You all seem pretty down in the dumps. How would you like a bonus round?”

“I’m good actually.” Taako said immediately. 

“No thank you.” Angus added. 

Magnus grumbled “Sounds— yeah, uh, sure.” 

Mere said “I’d like that about as much as a poke in the eye.”

Cam revealed that he had been trapped in Wonderland because of a similar bonus round and that they should avoid it if possible. The four adventurers made a show of being surprised that _anything_ in Wonderland could possibly be unpleasant after that inane warning. Of course, the bonus round wasn’t _actually_ optional, so they soon found themselves facing a brand new doorway. Magnus grabbed the arm off of one of the mannequins for some reason Angus could not possibly parse and was too afraid to ask. 

In the next chamber they were met with yet another large circular room. Angus thought back to the size of the building from outside and how impossible all of this was, but then remembered that they were dealing with powers that his mind literally could not comprehend even the names of, and they were being helped by a seemingly benevolent lich, so he figured it was time to stop trying to apply logic to it. Three large platforms sat at the center of the room, each one with a different sign over it: Escape Game, Healing Game, and Recovery Game. Since Cam had already played (and lost apparently) the Escape Game, that pedestal soon disappeared. The party of five were left deciding between the ‘Healing Game’ and ‘Recovery Game’. 

Angus eyed the two. Presumable, Recovery Game would allow them to get some of their spell slots back, but... His ankle still twinged in pain and Taako still had a bit of red on the side of his mouth from when he puked up that blood. They could really use some healing. 

He zoned back in to realize that Taako and Magnus were grilling Cam about what had happened when he had done the bonus round. Apparently, he’d had a companion who had chosen to abandon him to Wonderland in order to escape. 

Magnus surprised him by asking the head, “This— this person you were guiding. Older lady?” Did Magnus _know_ this person? The way the three of them shared a look when Cam confirmed it said yes. 

“Do you know Lucretia?” The head asked. 

“Yeah, we do. We’re kinda working for her, basically.” Taako answered, and Cam scowled. 

“So she trapped you in here too?”

“She… sent us in to save you?” Magnus tried, the words an obvious lie. Cam seemed to believe it though, especially when the other two agreed. The head turned to Angus as if to ask for extra confirmation and the boy simply shrugged before saying truthfully. 

“I uh, I don’t actually know, uh Miss. Lucretia? I was just in the woods and saw my friends and came to help.” 

“Oh yeah, why are you here, Angus?” Magnus asked, the three seeming to finally realize that he hadn’t originally been with them. 

“I was just coming back from a case and I saw you, sir. I wasn’t aware about, uh, I wasn’t aware about all this. But I am happy to help in any rescue mission!” 

Taako looked startled and lent over to whisper in his ear as Cam teared up and started to explain that he didn’t know if he would survive outside of Wonderland at that point. “You know we didn’t actually know about this dude, right?” 

“I know sir, but maybe it’s best if we don’t let him know.” 

Edward cleared his throat pointedly and they turned their attention back to the matter, and pedestals, at hand. 

Merle cleared his throat. “Lemme be a coach for a second. Look, we’re not gonna escape, but I say we go for heal, right? The stuff we’ve given up, we gave up of our own free will. So let’s get healed up! We’re not gonna get healed any other way!” 

Angus frowned. “If we go by Cam’s experience, it’s likely that some people will be healed, and some will be harmed, or something like that. I can’t know for sure, but that seems likely to me.” 

“Maybe!” Edward said gleefully. 

“That would be fine.” Taako said with a hacking cough. “We could make that work.”

Everyone looked to the elf, who was looking a bit, well Angus didn’t want to say it out loud, but he was looking fairly pathetic at that point. Dark bruises mottled his body, and the bandages that Angus had applied in the spa were already stained red. The other two agreed immediately and they crowded onto the platform.

A light rippled through the room, and they were left each standing in front of another pedestal, this time with the other party members on it. Angus eyed the names under the buttons, ‘Magnus, Merle, Taako, Cam’. Lydia explained that, since some were faring much worse than others, the healthy parties would have the opportunity to transfer some of their vitality to the others, but that more health would be sacrificed than gained. 

The elf had barely finished before Cam piped up, pointing out that as someone who was just a head, he didn’t have a lot of vitality to give. A lot of his energy was tied up in just… surviving. 

“Kay, fair.” Manus said with a nod. “That’s a good point. Wait, so what does that mean for you, Ango?” 

“Well, uh, I am just a little boy sir, so I don’t I don’t have a lot of vitality to spare. I think I, if I uh, if I had to put a number to it, I would say that at the top of my game I would have about 30 or 35 points? And I did get electrocuted earlier, so I would say I’m at about 20 now? ish?” 

The fighter hummed, sounding disgruntled. “How are you doing Taako?” 

“Uh, pretty bad, my dude.”

Merle suddenly slammed on Taako, and the elf straightened as some of his wounds healed. He lifted the dressing off of one of his arms and threw the bandage in the air to reveal a significantly scabbed- over wound. “Hallelujah, great uh, way to do a heal Merle.” 

“Don’t mention it.” The Dwarf said through gritted teeth, a pained look crossing his face as he slumped slightly. 

Then, surprising Angus, the dwarf jabbed at his button as well, not giving him much since Taako had been more gravely injured, but the boy was relieved to feel the electrical burn healing slightly so that it no longer hurt as much to put pressure on the leg. If he had to guess, he would say he was at like, 24 now! “Thank you, sir!” He said earnestly. 

Merle shrugged it off. “Just don’t want to get stuck carrying you.” 

Magnus lightly tapped at a button as well, and immediately a dark painful-looking rug burn flowed up his knees as Taako’s skinned knee healed. 

“Wow, thank you Magnus for your generosity. I don’t know what I would do without your help.” The elf said sardonically. 

“Hey, it’s my _job_ to like, get hit and stuff. Your job is to stay in the back and cast spells, I need the health more than you do.” 

“You are like, the least injured one here!” Taako protested. “Looks like you aren’t doing so great at that _job_.” 

“You know, it averages out that like we gave you 12 and a half points each.” The fighter tried to rationalize, but Merle was having none of it. 

“Nah, nah! No, it doesn’t really! As someone who has taken a lot of crap over being a bad healer, I don’t think it averages out at all.”

“I just healed and I’m the tank, so who’s the best healer, really? Y’know, you’re supposed to heal.” 

“How much did you heal? You did a knee.” 

Angus finally looked over from where he had been testing his leg strength to see black smoke pouring from their mouths as they argued. Angus coughed loudly and looked pointedly to the ceiling, and they all dissolved into intelligible grumbles. 

Taako finally said, “Thank you to everyone who gave an average of 12 and a half hit points, I really appreciate it.”

“Hey, least we could do, buddy.” Magnus said joyfully, dutifully ignoring Merle’s smog-tipped commentary of ‘literally’. 

With that, a new doorway opened and the party found themselves going right back towards the Wheel of Sacrifice room. 

“It’s the Wheel of Sacrifice!” Edward said flippantly as they entered. “You guys know the score. Just really spin it around, fill up the dots.”

“Edward, can you— take this seriously, please?” Lydia faux scolded. “This round, as you might expect, the sacrifices will be a little bit more intense than they have been, but I know that the five of you, have it in you!”

Magnus didn’t hesitate, marching to the wheel and spinning. “I got swords!” He yelled to the directionless voices. 

“Mm, perfect.” Edward said, sounding a little too excited. “Magnus, if you choose to accept this sacrifice, you will lose a fight. Literally, you will lose a fight, you will have a fight taken from you.”

Magnus hemmed and hawed for a bit, deferring to his companions as they might be the ones to really be injured by the sacrifice, but when the lich confirmed that it just meant that he would have lost a past battle, the fighter firmed. 

“Y’know what? Bite my butt, I’m taking the penalty.” 

Lydia responded “Wow, I’m, um, I have to admit, I’m pretty disappointed, I had a pretty good one— uh, lined up for you there.” 

“Yeah, that’s what I figured. You seemed very excited about it, and so, y’know, I just wanted to have a moment where I felt in control for a second.” Magnus responded. 

“Okay, well, you’re in control!” And a sixth dot appeared over the door. 

“Well, dump.” Magnus cursed, smoke trailing from his mouth. 

Taako and Merle immediately jumped in, attempting to bring things into a more positive light, but Angus wasn’t paying attention. He was watching the bit of smog that separated from the pack, feeling a bit of gratification that Mr.Red-lich was still there. He didn’t know why he trusted the mysterious figure so much, but he didn’t. Some deep-set instinct telling him to trust them. He trusted those instincts, they had saved him more than once. 

Merle spun next, the dial landing on mind. 

Edward explained, Merle, mind is a tough one. “You’ve already lost some important memories to the wheel in this game, and for this third round of the Wheel Game, we’re gonna take some doozies from you if you accept it. So if you accept this sacrifice Merle, you will lose the memories of the birth of your children!” 

Angus straightened, eyes wide, but Merle immediately said “Take the penalty.” Not pausing long enough to even take a breath. 

“Merle’s gots kids?” Magnus asked, and Angus winched, knowing the dwarf didn’t want that particular secret to get out. 

“Imagine my shock: Merle’s a dead-beat dad!” Taako teased. “Agag! Agog! I’m aghast!”

“I’ll take the penalty!” Merle yelled again into the air, ignoring Taako completely. 

“As nurturing as he is, y’know, as unw— Oh I guess I can’t talk yay about him anymore; he healed me real good. Yeah, it’s real bad. Can’t believe it.”

A seventh dot appeared above the door, and Lydia mocked that they may have to stay in the room for a while if they kept it up. Taako ignored her and spun, landing on hand. Similar to how Angus lost a bit of his stealth earlier, Taako lost a bit of his natural dexterity and he chose to accept the sacrifice rather than cause an eighth dot. Finally, it was Angus’s turn. The child moved reluctantly to the board and spun the wheel. He bit his lip, watching as the wheel spun and slowly landed on the image of a backpack. 

“Hmm, now let’s see. For backpack, we like to take an item from you. We don’t just remove it from your person, but we take it from you completely. We remove all memories of ever owning it, you will have never had it. You won’t even know that it existed. Being as this is the third round, it’s going to be quite a doozy.”

Angus nodded, sliding his backpack off of his back in anticipation. Whatever it was, he would give it up. They needed to get through to the next round, and there were still six red dots so- 

“For this sacrifice, you will have to give up your Caleb Cleveland novels.” 

Angus froze, not even breathing. But those books… they were what he used to become a detective. More than that, they represented hours upon hours of his life. They were what had kept him company when he’d been in the woods or an alley, keeping one eye on his surroundings as he sat alone. They had distracted him, drawn him into mysterious worlds and riddles that let him ignore a growling stomach. They had instilled concepts of truth and morality when the environment around him spoke of theft and lies and intimidation to survive. They were his connection to the Boylands, the best friends and closest thing to a family that he had.

They had been essential to- to him becoming who he was. They had dragged him out of dark places, beat off fear and depression and desperation. He was honestly terrified of who he might be if they were taken from him.

A low whine filled the room, and it took Angus a moment to realize that it was coming from him. The boy wasn’t sure what his face did as he remained frozen, stock still, but it was enough for Magnus to simply shout “Nope!” and march past the boy to spin the wheel. 

Another dot appeared over the doorway, but Angus couldn’t find it within himself to do anything but breathe heavily as relief rushed through him potent enough to make him feel heady. As Edward began explaining Magnus’s sacrifice, body, the boy slipped forward and squeezed the man’s hand, silently displaying a gratitude that he couldn’t begin to put into words. Magnus squeezed his hand back and gave him a large grin before accepting the sacrifice of some of his vitality. Going completely beast mode, Magnus spun twice more in a row, accepting bad luck immediately while pausing on the sacrifice of ‘Mind’. 

Edward and Lydia ask for him to forget about someone named Governor Kalen, someone that Magnus apparently hated. Angus had to shudder at the thought of someone who was cruel enough to earn Magnus’s hatred. The man fought, he yelled and he destroyed, but it never seemed personal. He was on a quest, and would stop those in his way, but Angus hadn’t really seen him display an emotion worse than anger or a mild dislike. Whoever Kalen was, Angus was sure that he had done something truly terrible. 

Though Merle and Taako seem to think it would be removing a burden, Magnus seems hesitant to lose his quest for vengeance. Finally, the man looks at his dear friends and nods. “Alright. Don’t try to remind me of it. But if in your journeys, you ever meet a slimy jerk named Governor Kalen, kill him on sight. Don’t talk to him. Don’t let him talk to you. Kill him. And tell him it’s for Julia. That’s the one thing I want you to say to his face before you kill him. “This is for Julia,” then you end him then and there. Understood?” 

“And then loot— and then loot him for Julia!”

“You can do whatever you want after that.” 

Merle added, “Yeah, well, listen. We kill most of the people we come in contact anyway.”

“Yeah yeah! Statistically speaking we were probably gonna kill him eventually. So, deal.” 

Angus, his mind fresh with the way Magnus had saved him from making his sacrifice, looked at the man seriously. “I’ll find him for you Magnus. I will track him down, find him, and make him pay.” He said with the solemnity of a vow.

Magnus nodded. “Accepted.” 

And then they were at 4 out of 6 lights. Merle spun and was cursed to fight poorly while inside Neverland (what’s his excuse the rest of the time? Taako had joked), and suddenly only 3 lights were left. 

Taako spun then, and landed on the clock. The elves seemed interested in that roll. “Taako, you are, uh, you are of the elven people and— a good looking one, at that. And so taking time from you is a tricky prospect because elves can live a long, long time, and we don’t want to establish a discrepancy in the sacrifices that we demand from our participants, so instead of taking your age from you… What if we sort of… take away something that diminishes over time? Which is to say… some of your beauty, Taako!”

Angus’s eyes widened as he looked to the elf. They really weren’t pulling their punches anymore, were they? Taako’s ears were flat back with surprise as he grilled them on how ugly he would actually get, and whether he could only make part of himself look worse, ect. 

“I’ll put it this way, Taako— for the first time in your life, you will simply look…normal. You will be… plain.” Lydia said.

Edward added, “Well, that’s a fate worse than death if you ask me, but Taako, it’s your sacrifice to make, bud.”

“I just don’t— I know I need to make a decision, here. It’s just— you know. It’s a tough one, right?” Taako said, ears flicking up and down. 

Magnus offered, “I understand if this is too much, and I’ll take two spins if you need to say no.”

Taako bit a nail nervously, then relaxed. “Listen. I’ve thought about it a lot and uh, as near as I can figure, normal Taako is still head and shoulders above 90 percent of the population on this stupid planet. So let’s go ahead and go normal!”

They watched in silence for a moment as Taako turned… not ugly per say, just a little more plain, more average. Angus felt his heart ache for the man, losing something so important to him. Would this affect his show, if he was ever able to restart it? How would it impact- 

Suddenly Taako cast Disguise Self and he was once more his gorgeous self. 

Merle, Magnus, and Angus burst out laughing at the magic display, the movement releasing a bit of the tension that had been building. 

“How’s your sacrifice?” Angus yelled at the elves, who seemed more amused than angry at the work around. Edward was looking at Taako as though he was once more thinking about offering the elf employment. 

Now, only 2 dots remained above the door. Angus stepped forward, unwilling to let his friends bear all of the burden without accepting a sacrifice of his own. He landed on a question mark. 

“Okay, you know the deal.” Edward said. “You have to give up something equal to what the others have given up in their sacrifices. Needless to say, you'll have to give up a bit more than Merle had to last time.” 

Angus pulled off his backpack, and opened it wide. “Uh, would you like to help, sirs?” 

So they all sort of sat clustered on the floor for a moment, going through Angus’s bag. Most of it wasn’t especially valuable. He had the duck Angus had gotten him, generic adventuring gear, a few spare changes of clothes, a detective kit, and a smattering of books, including his Caleb Cleveland novels and the book of interception that he used in his cases. 

“Well pumpkin,” Taako said. “Seems like you got a whole lot of nothing, other than a few fashion choices that are somehow more questionable than what you’re currently wearing.” 

“Thanks, sir.” Angus said dryly. He bit his lip as the three looked through the pile as though something worth something would magically appear. The boy looked up, as though speaking to their captors. “This isn’t based on monetary value, right? And I can still give up, non-physical things?” 

“That’s right. This is all about how big the sacrifice is to you.” 

“Oh, see if you can give up some of your nerdiness.” Taako suggested. 

“That seems a little abstract, sir. I don’t think they have the ability to take such nebulous concepts.” 

“That you for that example.” Taako replied. 

Angus shook his head and pulled up his backpack. He pulled a piece of carefully concealed twine, revealing a hidden pocket. Angus reached in and pulled out his last remaining bit of silverware, and the slip of paper the orphanage had made when they’d found him. 

“See, there’s that super secret stuff, I knew that was coming.” Magnus proclaimed. The man grabbed the bag out of Angus’s hands and started searching for other hidden sections. There weren’t any, but Angus decided to hold off on that and let the man discover that for himself. His hands were shaking as he put the silverware on the wheel. He was giving up a lot, just with these two things. The silverware had been his security, his constant. He knew if times ever got really bad, he could take a bit to a pawn shop and walk away with at least enough for a few good meals, if not a night at a tavern as well. In giving this up, he was giving away a bit of his stability. Not only that, but the silverware and the document were the only links he had to his past, to any family he may have had. It probably looked like a pile of junk, but to Angus it was a lot. 

Was it enough though? 

He considered the small pile, then went back and grabbed his notebook, placing that in as well. It was full of page after page of carefully curated notes, all crammed in small letters to give himself as much room as possible. It discussed cases he’d solved, cases he’d failed, the missing person’s case that was still pending, not to mention the copious notes he’d taken while in Wonderland. Most importantly, while most stuff either wasn’t relevant anymore or was stuff Angus would remember regardless, there were several pages of things that related to the mental blocks and static that he’d been experiencing so often. Without his notes, they would leave his mind completely, mysteries never to be solved. To Angus, information and truth were of incredible value. In fact, there was little, if anything, that he valued more. He was giving up nearly all that he had stored. 

He carefully cast prestidigitation to dirty up the page he’d used to speak with the Mr.Red-lich so that it wasn’t legible. 

He put that on the pile as well, making sure to clarify, “I’m giving up these items, not my memory of them.”

“Oh, do you think that’s enough? Hmmm?” 

He looked at the pile. He was giving up his security, his past, and his knowledge. “I do.” He said firmly. 

“Hmm…. Alrighty then, way to play the game! One sacrifice left!” 

“Hey!” Merle yelled. “I had to give up my favorite weapons and my wedding ring!” He complained. 

“Perhaps you oversold.” Angus joked, spinning the wheel. 

“Wait, Ango-” Magnus tried to stop, but the device was already in motion.

“It’s ok sir, I’ve got this.” 

“I wanted to set a record.” The fighter whined. “I had to be getting close, I accepted what, 3 in one round?” 

“No, yeah man, you were close.” Edward said. “Tell you what, if Angus takes the penalty here, you’ve got another shot.” 

“Yes!” The man cheered, and Angus was starting to get concerned that their ‘keep it breezy’ strategy was actually starting to mess with the way they processed terrible news. Then the wheel stopped and he decided that wasn’t the case, because he was certainly appropriately horrified to land on this. 

“Ooh, mind. We could really mess you up here, huh detective-boy?” 

Yes, they really really could. 

“But I do respect how you play, little man, so how about this: we won’t take any of your big cases, none of your intelligence. Instead, we’ll take one that, well let’s just say it isn’t really going anywhere. A case you washed your hands of over a year ago. If you accept this sacrifice, Angus, you will forget all about your investigation to find your parents.”

It was like a bolt had gone through him. The boy looked at the wheel with wide eyes, as if asking how it could be so cruel.

From behind him he heard Magnus. “Oh, dunk.” 

“H-hey,” Taako cut in. “What’s the big deal hombre? I thought they just said it didn’t go anywhere. Forget a failure? I’d be all over that my man.” 

“If I don’t remember- I had given up. There are no leads, I can’t find _anything._ I’d given up, and I started- I don’t even really care anymore. But if I forget… if I forget how hard I looked without finding anything, I’m going to try again. If I accept this, then I’m dooming myself to looking again, and being disappointed again. And I just _sacrificed_ my only leads.”

Taako cursed then, as though understanding Angus’s dilemma. Magnus stepped forward and put a hand on Angus’s shoulder, and he felt an invisible pressure on his other one. Magnus’s eyes flicked to that pressure before meeting Angus’s. “Ango, even if you don’t find your parents, well, we’re kinda family at this point. You have us, just a stone call away.” 

Angus smiled at his friend, some unnamable warmth flooding his chest. 

Merle muttered, “That seems like a pretty bad trade to me.” 

“Any trade with you in it is a bad one.” Taako shot back, and Merle nodded as if to say ‘that’s fair’. 

Angus turned to the sky. “Deal. I accept.” 

And suddenly, the last red dot was green, and the next doorway was open. 

“Well, it took some doing, but congratulations.” Edward said. “You can advance to the next game!” 

The five trudged back once more into the Trust or Forsake room, spirits low and backs bowed against the weight of the sacrifices they had made. There were no words or goofs as the screens shifted this time, until finally Magnus was revealed. Angus breathed a sigh of relief that once again the fate of several wouldn’t be in his hand, though he knew with certainty what Magnus would choose and how it could very easily go very badly for them. Sure enough, Magnus barely hesitated before selecting ‘Trust’, a grim determination on his face. 

The decision made smoke flit from Taako and Merle’s lips, but Angus smiled in pride for his friend even as his heart pounded in fear. 

They watched with bated breath as the familiar banners appeared. 

YOUR DECISION: TRUST

THEIR DECISION: TRUST

The adventurers broke out into joyous cheers, even as Edward tutted in disappointment. 

“Aw… Okay. Sorry, this just like, never happens.”

A new door opened and they five left the room marginally happier than when they entered. The new room was actually… pretty cool at first. The walls seemed to be made of one continuous screen, and it was shifting through a series of gorgeous scenic vistas that almost made it feel like you were at a beach or forest or another amazing view. In one corner was a humongous pile of mannequins, which Angus didn’t like at all, so he tried to focus on the pretty scenes since he knew that little bit of peace was likely fleeting.

Sure enough, the silence was soon broken by Lydia. “This challenge is gonna be fun to watch. Say, are any of you feeling particularly nostalgic?”

“Yeah, I long for the time when we weren’t in this place.” Merle grumbled, causing a bit of more smoke. This time, however, instead of simply flowing to the ceiling, it joined a gigantic plume of black smog that lowered from the ceiling. The smog swirled around the pile of mannequins, pulling some of them away as the screens started flickering through scenes. The mannequins formed into giants, beholders, mind flayers, and a whole assortment of other beasties overhead. Angus watched the dizzying chaos with wide eyes, tracing a word that spun around the room on the screens: “Calibrating”. 

Finally everything stopped, and the screens made it seem like they were standing in some sort of cavern. A bundle of mannequins were lifted from the pile, and shifted and altered themselves until they took on the shape of a spider, and a figure that Angus couldn’t, that he couldn’t quite see. 

“*********” Magnus yelled excitedly, the words becoming nothing but static for Angus.

“What, sir?” Angus asked, squinting and trying to see the second figure, but unable to around a dizziness in his head that increased the more he tried to stare. 

“Well, they’re both ******. One is **********, and the other is Bryan with a ‘y’.” 

Suddenly, the figures jerked to life and began to move, a new word filling the screens: “Boss Rush: Begin”. 

Taako immediately shot at the mysterious figure, but Angus was pulling on Magnus’s shirt frantically. “Sir! Sir, I can’t see the second person! I can’t see the non-spider person!” 

The fighter’s eyes went wide and he cursed loudly and vehemently. “Guys!” He shouted. “We went and ********** ***** *****, and Ango hasn’t been **********. He can’t see anything. Okay, Ango, I’ll protect you from him, you focus on the spider cause uh, that isn’t my favorite thing anyway. 

“Got it sir.” 

“It’s ok!” Taako yelled. “I killed ***** *****… again!” 

Merle was casting spells as Angus sent a Ray of Frost at the spider creature, the large being seemed to barely notice the attack. It was slowed, which turned out to be helpful as Magnus was able to get between it and Taako with his shield held high. 

The monster managed to bite into Taako anyway, but at least Magnus was close enough then to attack it with his axe. The marionettes collapsed, and the scenery was replaced with an empty pavilion that Angus was pretty sure was familiar only to him. 

In front of them a single mannequin rose, a human man holding a thick baton, in clothes speckled with blood. It was the serial killer Angus had exposed when he solved his first ever case. 

The boy didn’t hesitate, sending two shots at him with his cross bolt as the figure went straight for him. One bolt landed where the Marionette's eye would be, the other where his heart would be. The figure collapsed. 

“That’s your big bad, Ango? Like, a regular dude?” Magnus asked with a laugh. 

“I was a lot younger the first time around.” Angus said defensively, “Like… 8 or something. And he was a serial killer, it had seemed bad at the time.” 

The man opened his mouth to continue, but before he could they were interrupted by Lydia. “Excellent point, Magnus. I’m sorry Angus, but your enemies aren’t quite at the, well they just aren’t at the level we’re looking for here in Wonderland. I think we’ll stick with the other three’s bosses for now.” 

“I’ve fought some big enemies.” Angus protested. 

“Hm, doubt.” Edward said. “It doesn’t look like it from our readings. 

“I literally just stopped several cults!” He argued. “And I once solved a case against a half dozen necromancers!” 

“Yes, but you didn’t fight any of them head on, did you?” 

“Well no, I suppose not.” The reaper had taken care of the necromancers, and the milita had actually caught the cults after he discovered where they were hiding. “What about the smugglers at candlenights? And I have held many people at crossbow-point, even if we never actually fought. Oh, what about the dragonborn who had been making a hoard? They had kidnapped me for a week before I escaped.”

“One dragonborn? Really? Have you seen what level we’re at kid?” 

“Angus, do you, are you _trying_ to fight all of your enemies?” Magnus asked incredulously. 

“If there’s like, a quota sir, I’d much rather fight my enemies than yours.” 

“That’s a- That is a good point.” Taako pointed out. Angus turned to argue more with the liches, but before he could the scene started to change once more. 

They were surrounded by… by… Angus didn’t know. He couldn’t tell where they were, he thought it was some kind of city, but the longer he tried to figure it out, the more his head hurt and the harder it was to actually think. He clutched his head against the pain and dizziness, wishing ardently that he could take a moment to- to just sit down. 

Once more the marionettes formed a figure, and once again Angus couldn’t see it. He could only feel the sensation of intense heat coming from it. Surrounded by what seemed to be a complete dizzying blur, trying to adjust to the inability to comprehend his surroundings, Angus threw up. “Sir, I can’t- I can’t really see anything.” He swallowed against even more vomit, idly aware of curses coming from his companions as Merle came to stand between him and the beast. 

“Shut your eyes, kid. Usually people get Avi’s brandy when they’re going through this.” 

Angus heard what sounded like incredible spells being cast all around him, but he just hunkered down over himself and tried to center his breathing.

Suddenly, Angus heard Magnus shout “No!” In a voice so genuinely horrified that his head shot up. The child’s head jerked up to see a fireball coming straight at him from the fuzz of nothingness. It was coming too quickly, he didn’t have time to move away. Without warning, an invisible force pulled him out of harm's way, barely in time to avoid being scorched. The child let out deep panting breaths, sharing a wide-eyed look with his friends, none of whom it seemed had cast the spell that brought him to safety considering the wave had hit each of them. 

Then he felt a bit of familiar pressure on his shoulder, there for only a moment before disappearing. Magnus was the only one who didn’t look completely shocked as his eyes followed something Angus couldn’t see to the corner of the room with the pile of wooden people. 

Thankfully, the atmosphere shifted then, becoming a scene more familiar to Angus. In fact, it was extremely familiar. It was the train car of the Rockport limited. As Angus watched, Jenkins and the two meat monsters started to form out of the mannequins. 

Suddenly, Cam complained, “I’m getting pretty sick of this. Taako, you got a spare wand?”

“Yes. I have a spare wand. Here you go.” 

“Toss it down to me.” The elf dropped his wand and Cam, showing more dexterity than he’d shown the whole time they were there, caught it in his mouth. With a clever flick of his lips, the head was levitating. 

“You could have done that this whole time?” Magnus asked, affronted. “We’ve been carrying your head!”"

“Spell slots!” The head answered. He turned his wand to the three villains. “Heads up!”

Cam cast a spell and suddenly the mannequins formed a giant hand which grabbed one of the meat monsters and squeezed it into ground beef before flying across the room and swatting the other monster into the wall. Angus was starting to get the impression that his level 2 spells wouldn’t be much help here. 

Magnus ran forward and punched Jenkins, the blow sending the villain falling backwards into the path of an angel and a black void of tentacles that had apparently appeared when Angus had been, er, indisposed (hunched over and trying not to lose his lunch). As Jenkins fell back, Magnus then levelled his lance at the figure, the blow landing him before the man recalled it. Jenkins, already heavily wounded by Magnus’s administrations, flew into the black pool of tentacles, which pulled and punched at his form. 

The angel moved to attack him as well, but before she could she froze, flickered ephemerally, and disappeared. Merle wailed at the sight as Jenkins tore free of the tentacles and cast something with his wand that made them dissipate. Before anyone could make another attack, a dresser suddenly appeared out of nowhere by the pile of mannequins. It lasted only a moment before disappearing, but when it did a bookshelf was in its place. Then a fireplace, then a lamp, then the strange object disappeared. Angus blinked. That was… odd.

The boy was still pondering the objects when Taako defeated Jenkins, but then just as he’d seen on the train, Taako’s umbrella turned inside out and inhaled Jenkin’s wand. Last time this happened, Angus hadn’t been actively investigating the wand. The boy’s hands moved automatically to add that bit of information to the notes he’d started when the wand destroyed his cookies, but his heart sank when his hand came up empty. Those notes were gone now. He’d just have to hope that he remembered. 

Once more, the pile of figures worked to form a new shape, this one huge and as equally familiar to Angus as Jenkins had been. The familiarity did nothing to calm Angus’s fears. After all, how the heck were they supposed to fight a _tank,_ all by themselves? As incompetent as the Hammerheads had been, he would feel much better if they had a tank of their own to use in the battle. 

Suddenly, Merle put up both hands. “Hold on, one second!” He shouted, then dropped to his knees and bowed his head in prayer. And everyone… did? Anus looked around, waiting for the Shark Tank to attack, but nothing happened. Apparently it was chill to just wait until the prayer was over? Why though?

After a moment, Merle rose, looking pale and shaken with slightly misty eyes, but he cast a spell to buff their powers, his determination not hampered by whatever had spooked him in his prayer. Buffed, Angus never-the-less knew that he wasn’t at the level of the other three. He was too young, and had started his magic too recently. There wasn’t much that he could do as part of the fight that would be actually useful. In that case, he would make himself useful elsewhere. As Cam electrocuted the tank, the boy ran to the corner of the room where strange objects were still popping up and cast ‘Identify’ on a potted plant that appeared out of nothing. The spell immediately picked up the use of strong necrotic energies, two different spells rushing through it. The first spell seemed to be the magic of their captors, a dark heavy spell that was trying to create items of destruction. He identified a second spell as well however, also necrotic magic but not so dark. This spell was also attempting to create, but unlike the first, Angus’s identify said that the second spell was trying to create an exit. 

He breathed a sigh of relief as comprehension flooded him. Mr. Red-Lich could use and manipulate necromantic magics just as their captors could, and he was using their own tricks to get them out. 

Suddenly, Magnus was running over their way, pulling arms off of some on the mannequins (again? Why? Was this normal for Magnus?) and throwing them at the tank. It didn’t seem to do much, and within a moment the man had given up on that course and was instead pulling out his tinderbox. Angus caught on immediately. If they could destroy the figurines, the thing may not be able to form larger creatures. 

Angus cast Create Flame, on the half nearest to him, and caught Magnus’s smile. Then he was completely distracted when Taako _turned into a Tyrannosaurus Rex_. 

“MY NAME IS… DUPREE. DU-PREEEEE.” The Taako-Rex shouted. 

“This would be the coolest day ever if we weren’t probably going to die.” Angus admitted as he watched a dinosaur bite the top off of a tank, biting all the way through the pilot inside. Taako’s hat hadn’t polymorphed with the rest of him, so it was a T-Rex with a wizard hat fighting a tank. Okay, imminent death or not, coolest day ever.

The tank dissolved into mannequins and smog yet again, but this time when they reformed it was to create a gigantic, tube-shaped figure that Angus recognized from the brief glimpses he’d gotten from their time in refuge. They were fighting a purple worm. The worm used all of the bodies, including several heavily charred and weakened ones that Magnus and Angus had managed to burn, but with the sheer size of this beat, Angus wasn’t sure it would do much.

Strike that. He was sure it wouldn’t do much. Now they were just fighting a purple worm that was on fire. Somehow, this was worse. They’d made it worse. 

Cam yelled in shock. “You guys killed a purple worm?!”

“Y-yeah??? Did we?” Magnus asked.

“Dupreeeee.” Dupree yelled. 

“I didn’t think we killed one!” Merle cried as the thing reared.

“Angus? Did we kill the purple worm?” 

“I didn’t see anything after the bubble popped, sir, but I doubt it.” 

Dupree slammed the worm with his tail, but the beast countered by breathing a ray of fire that roared through the room, roasting Dupree-Taako and Merle. Angus and Magnus were thankfully out of the blast zone, but it was becoming clear that they would need to do something _fast._ It was apparently clear to their helpful lich as well, as the objects started changing even more rapidly. Finally, it turned into a door. The type of door kept changing, but no matter what it remained a door. 

Magnus shouted, “Time to sauté, boys!” And Angus darted for the, now cobblestone, portal. 

Magnus was right on his heels, with the others right behind them. Dupree had picked up Merle and Cam in his giant maw and carried them to the door, turning back into Taako just in time to clear the door. Merle’s hand didn’t make it out of Dupree’s mouth in time to avoid getting bit by Taako, and the elf let out a gag at the taste. 

“Grody!” He complained as the door disappeared behind them. 

Angus looked around, seeing a room much larger than they had been in before, a room with the back-stage-aura of somewhere normal people weren’t supposed to be.

They had officially sautéed.


	9. The Suffering Game Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The suffering game is coming to an end, but what's in store afterwards will really start shaking things up!!!   
> This chapter is pretty short, and so is the Lunar Interlude, so I'm posting both at once. I hope you enjoy!!!

Angus looked around the room as he caught his breath. They were once more in a large cylindrical shaped room, but it seemed way bigger than the others. It looked like they had just come out of a smaller cylinder. In fact there were dozens of smaller cylindrical rooms, each plain except for a couple of names written on them. The names were all different, but Angus noticed that their names were written on the one that they had just escaped. 

Can hesitated, standing back as they looked forward. He admitted once more that he didn’t think he would survive out of Wonderland and said that he would be splitting from the group. With that, the head left them, despite Taako’s gracious offer to let him live in Taako’s umbrella as an undying servant. Angus was shocked he said no to that one, absolutely shocked. 

He was not shocked. 

A moment after Cam disappeared, a spotlight shone from above, revealing a staircase leading up to the top of a large circular platform. A wide, fantastical catwalk sat in the middle of the platform, surrounded by what looked like the same mannequins as had been in the audience of the dating competition. As one, the hive-minded wooden figures looked to their group of four and pointed at the catwalk. 

Merle, Magnus and Angus all looked at Taako. The elf looked around them with comically wide eyes. “I don’t—I don’t understand, no, I‘m kinda freaked out. What’s going on?”

“Uh, I think you need to get up there and strut.” Manug offered. 

Merle nodded. “I think it’s a… fashion… show?”

“I’m not a piece of meat!” The elf protested. 

“This is what you were born to do, Taako!” Magnus insisted. 

“You, uh, you certainly do seem like the best candidate for this sir.” 

“No! I mean I’m not a model, I’m a wizard and a chef! I don’t understand what I’m being asked to do here.”

“I think you need to… booty tooch—" The fighter continued to try. 

“Why?! The— the things you’re saying make no sense! I’m not just gonna strut across a catwalk for your delight!” Taako protested, but he had a wicked grin. 

“Please sir,” Angus added, knowing what the elf wanted to hear. “We need to make a good first impression, and you’re definitely the best we have!” 

“Well, I don’t know about-” Magnus protested with a laugh, but Taako was already moving. There was a lot you could say about the elf, but you could never say that he lacked style. Taako strut down the catwalk like he had been born on it, prestidigitation shooting sparks, a killer new outfit on by way of illusion magic, and a strut and swagger that was all Taako. The crowd went insane, absolutely losing it. They only quieted when Merle started waddling across, shirtless, and spinning his shirt over his head in what Angus thought was supposed to be a seductive manner. Like, three of the mannequins were into it, but it sobered the rest of them up rather drastically. The figurines looked back at Magnus and Angus, and pointed back at the catwalk. Magnus was practically vibrating with excitement as well, but he insisted Angus go first so he could watch the rear. 

The child took a few steps on the catwalk, waving with a nervous smile before deciding that this situation was just so weird, he might as well try to have fun with it. He cast Ray of Frost so that the length of the catwalk was frozen over, took a running dive and penguin-slid the rest of the way, shooting out prestidigitation sparks from his hands like Taako as he spun in circles going down the track. He was giggling wildly as he crashed into Taako, who was laughing himself. The audience seemed to like it as well. He didn’t get as good a reception as Taako, but the crowd was certainly more hyped than they had been for Merle. 

He carefully straightened his shirt as he stood, watching Magnis’s militaristic spinning and posing with his lance. 

Edward’s voice sounded as Magnus joined them. “You did it! I don’t know how, but you did it!”

Lydia added, “Very few people have stood where you’re standing now, having conquered suffering itself to claim their prize. Give them a hand, folks!”

The mannequins gave the group a standing ovation, and despite it all Angus felt a swell of pride. They had worked hard. He didn’t believe for a second that this was the end of their suffering in wonderland, but there was nothing wrong with taking a moment to be proud of the suffering they had already endured. Acknowledging the strength they’d shown would help him have strength for whatever lay ahead. 

Edward revealed what they had known all along, that they were Liches who had turned to necromancy in their actual lives. Initially, they had apparently sustained themselves on their love for each other and their late sibling, but had later discovered how to use the suffering of others to sustain themselves. They were giving  _ fantastic  _ insight into the psyche and formation of liches, things Angus hadn’t encountered at all during his research. His fingers itched to take notes as they went over everything from the usefulness of various emotions, the outfits their lich forms took, and the formation of Wonderland. Man, he wished he hadn’t sacrificed his notebook. He was so intent on focusing on their words, that when they faded into a bit of static it was like being dunked into cold water. 

“And thanks to your ****** ****, business has been booming lately.”

Suddenly the boy was aware of the mannequin’s moving, reaching for them like something from a zombie show. 

Ignoring the mannequins, Edward said, “This place has always thrived because of, well, what else? Advertising! We’ve got a few consistent channels. Surely you received a brochure in the mail, or saw our billboards or met someone drawn here by a beam of magical light?” Angus tensed. That had been him. “Those are just a few tools of the trade, and they served us well during our residency here. But do you all know the most successful type of advertising?” 

Angus answered, along with Taako, Merle, and Magnus. “Word of mouth?”

“Magnus, you landed on skull in the last round, didn’t you?” The male elf asked. 

“Yes.”

“Bad luck.”

And then, a bell rang. The sound was haunting and musical, and extremely distinctive even though he’d never heard it before. Angus didn’t think he could mistake it for anything else. Magnus reeled backwards, light shooting back from the back of his body as he nearly fell. The man spasmed before hitting the ground and managed to right himself. Magnus turned to them and, with an expression that somehow looked terrifyingly  _ wrong _ , the fighter said. “You know, boys, I don’t think Wonderland’s that bad. You know, I feel like I’ve learned a lot about myself here, and I feel like our friendship has grown even more powerful, don’t you think?”

Lydia stepped out from behind Magnus, and for an instant Angus thought he saw a faint ghost-like figure of Edward standing around Magnus. It disappeared a moment later, and Angus didn’t need Edward and Lydia’s matching smiles to know what exactly the ‘bad luck’ had entailed. 

‘Magnus’ continued. “I think I’m gonna head to Neverwinter and tell everyone I meet to get down here to Wonderland ASAP! Lots of riches! More than I could even carry out!” 

Merle cast a look at Taako and Angus. “So, uh, Magnus! Uhhh, you really think we had that-”

“That’s me! Big, tough man Magnus! That’s me all over. I’m gonna rush in! Let’s do it!”

Merle questioned Magnus about what, exactly, he thought had been a good time and what treasures he was referring to. To which Ed-nus replied with a lot of words with very little sustenance. Finally, the dwarf tried to get them to give him the bell, but Ed-nus simply replied that instead he would let them live in Wonderland as he kept the bell and lured others into the messed up games. 

Finally, Taako tired of Merle’s attempts at coercion interrupted. “You know what, I’ve got an idea for ya.” He said, beginning to cast a spell. 

“Yeah?” Ed-nus asked, and suddenly Taako’s eyes rolled up and the elf collapsed. Angus’s heart jumped. He didn’t know what the elf was doing, but he did know that he didn’t want the liches to somehow stop it. Lydia looked at the collapsed elf suspiciously, a fireball forming in her hand as though she was considering frying the body before Taako’s work could be done. Angus couldn’t let that happen.

“Wow, that was weird. That almost never happens.” He said, stepping in front of Taako and drawing the two liches' attention even as Merle pulled out his bible and began chanting a spell. “Anyway, I think that sounds like a very interesting idea sir. If we have to- I’m sorry, if we  _ get to  _ stay in Wonderland are we going to continue playing the games? Or can we use some of your powers and like, create a fun hang out place? I have a lot of contacts as a detective, you know, several of whom would be very interested in testing their endurance for a chance at fame and riches. I think you would find some of them very interesting as well. I suppose you saw some of them as you went through my memories, but I assure you-” And Angus McDonald did what he did best. He deflected, he distracted, and he kept talking, and talking, and talking. He didn't know enough spells to help, but he maintained eye contact with the liches, he held, no, he _commanded_

Suddenly, one of the creepy, reaching mannequins leaped onto the stage, standing in a way that was immediately recognizable and comforting. The mannequin straightened and in Magnus’s voice said, “I’ll be having my body back, you undead freak.”

Before anyone could say anything else, the black smog above their heads formed a massive steel beam that was falling towards them. Angus prepared to jump away, but before he could move the sound of a gigantic crash above them startled him into freezing. He looked up to see a pair of statues had formed out of the fog to grab the beam, with Mr. Red Lich floating between them. The lich waved a red-robed hand, and suddenly all of it disappeared. 

Magnus yelled that he thought they could trust the lich, and Angus shouted that he agreed. “I-I think so too. I think he’s been helping us for a while.” 

The lich sent them a thumbs up, and Taako shrugged. “ Yeah, I’ve watched TV before, I know how these things go.”

Ed-nus laughed, the sound chilling. “Well this fight just got a lot more interesting.” He lifted one of Magnus’s muscular and gloved hands into the air, and snapped. 

Suddenly all of the cylindrical chambers that had been in the room started emitting beams of bright colorful light, and some of them even started rotating. The floor of the platform they were on also turned into a checkerboard of changing lights. The entire area became a dizzying mix of movement, light and color that was hard to track with the eye. 

Lydia began floating and cast a spell, a bolt of something hitting  Ed-nus and leaving him looking much healthier than Magnus had been. 

Merle protested, “Waaaaaaaaaaaiiiit a minute I thought healing didn’t work in here!”

Lydia laughed cruelly. “Oh, that’s only a one-way street, dear!”

Magnus, the Mag-nequin, asked the other mannequins if they would help him. They simply shrugged and he immediately shifted and tackled his body, trying to wrestle the chance lance away. The big, burley Magnus-Body had no difficulty shrugging the mannequin off, but the mannequin, with all of Magnus’s knowledge and skill, kept his feet.

Ed-nus hefted Railsplitter, form perfect from the body’s muscle memory. “Let’s see what this baby can do!”

He ignored Magnus completely, going after Merle with his weapon raised high. The axe slashed across Merle, creating a huge gash across his chest, sending him flying, and knocking him unconscious. Angus rushed over to the dwarf, heart beating in fear and adrenaline as he pulled out the last of his scant medical supplies. He wrapped the last bit of his bandages around the dwarf’s torso, but it barely even slowed the rush of blood.

From behind, he could hear Magnus trying once more to incite the mannequins against the liches, and turned to see Taako casting a spell to encourage them.

“Go my beautiful army!” Taako shouted as 5 of the wooden figures leaped onto the stage and started attacking. 

In an attempt to help, he cast hold person on Ed-nus, and breathed a sigh of relief when the spell stuck. He doubted it would work on a lich, but on Magnus’s human body he just barely managed it. The villain managed to get two of them with his axe before Angus’s spell hit, but the other three landed successful attacks. 

Angus hunched and continued to try to help keep Merle breathing, but watched as a pair of giant wrecking balls formed out of the fog and crashed together a few mere inches from hitting Taako. Mr. Red-lich’s hand was outstretched from where he was flouting, bright red cloak billowing dramatically. 

Lydia cast a spell leveled at Mag-nequin, but the man was already moving. He wrapped himself around his body and pulled out an orb. He pressed a button, and suddenly Magnus’s weapons were flying through the air, repelled by an invisible source. Merle’s glasses shot off his face and into the crowd, and Angus’s head shot back as his glasses were repelled as well. When he straightened, the world was a bit blurrier and he didn’t notice one of Magnus’s weapons, a rusty old pocket knife, coming straight at him until it was too late. The pocketknife was thankfully closed, but it collided with his cheek, creating a huge bruise, causing a bit of blood, and taking quite a bit of damage. 

He bit his lip against a cry of pain, looking back to the fight to see Ed-nus and Mag-nequin in a battle of wills over the chance lance, it’s shape distinctive even in his blurry haze. Angus knew the weapon, had been there when Lady Istus had given it to him. Angus doesn’t have a single doubt about whose hand it will fly to. Within seconds, the lance is back within the wooden hands of it’s rightful owner, but Ed-nus had broken from Angus’s ‘Hold Person’ spell and stepped forward. Despite the 5 mannequins continuing to batter and scratch at him, the villain managed to reach over and tear off Mag-nequin’s right arm.

What was with all the arm removal? Was that normal? 

Angus cast a Fire Bolt against Lydia, but was stopped from launching any further attacks as Merle let out a pained, shuddering breath. Angus cried out and reached for the man’s pulse to ensure that he was still just unconscious. Suddenly, a small shape appeared, hovering over the two shortest party members. Angus squinted until he could be fairly confident that the figure was Cam. 

The head asked, “Hey, Crimson Wonder, were you the one that cooked up that door earlier? I got an order for ya. Can ya make me up a Healing Game?”

There was a bit of movent from the friendly lich, presumably a nod, and suddenly there was a podium in front of the head. Cam looked at Merle, with Angus still crouched beside him, then to Taako and Magnus. “I, uh, I thought of something heroic to do.” 

Suddenly, a mage hand appeared from in front of Cam and slammed down on the pedestal. A beam of light shot straight from it into Merle, who sat up with a gasp and a curse. 

The pedestal itself dissolved into a plume of smoke, and when it cleared, Cam was nowhere in sight. 

Getting unsteadily to his Feet, Merle shoved a fist to where Mag-nequin and Ed-nus were fighting. At first, Angus thought he was making a rude gesture, but then he realized the dwarf was pointing his ring at them. 

“I,” He shouted. “Am going to use the ring of the grammarian, and cast Divine  _ Wood.  _ Magnus, you’re divine now! Do something with that!” 

Ignoring the exchange, Lydia cast a spell at Taako that smoked and cracked with power. A bolt of magic hit Taako straight in the chest and knocked him out. Angus moved over to try and help the elf, though he had even less supplies than he had used to help Merle, and nothing for magic illnesses. 

He froze, distracted when a bolt of golden light left the tip of the Chance Lance sent Magnus’s body flying. Edward’s lich form rose slowly from the body, sneering at them cruelly. “Did you really think-”

Suddenly, Taako’s umbrella had once more inverted. Though the elf was still knocked out, the umbrella rose in his unconscious hand, and vacuumed the lich up. Suddenly, the umbrella was jerking and jumping and moving as though Edward was trying to escape. Afraid that the staff would fall out of Taako’s hand with all the movement, the child grabbed it.

A strange tingling sensation ran through his body at first contact, but after that there was nothing beyond the continued shaking and jerking of the lich inside. He nearly lost his grip several times, so strong were the blows, but he managed to keep it in hand even as the staff turned inside out once again. This time however, it  _ spit out  _ the lich, sending him flying across the room before he disintegrated into ash. 

Lydia  _ screamed _ , shrieking in an anguish that would stick with Angus forever. Her form started losing shape, warping in strange ways and color flickering as lightning arched from her form. She was still unraveling when she picked up a bit of the discarded ash. “I guess… I guess we still needed each other after all.” She murmured. 

As a final action, she pointed a finger at their group and screamed, and suddenly everything went dark. It was like there was a hurricane, or a sandstorm. Energy smashed and moved around them, swirling and ebbing in a nearly overwhelming flow. The four adventurer’s could only hunker down and endure it. Finally, it ended. And she had disappeared, leaving behind a beautiful, gem-inlaid bell. 

Across the room, on the other side of the runway, sat Magnus’s belongings, but his body had been destroyed as part of Lydia’s last act. Magnus's body was gone, but their captors had been defeated. Suddenly, a barely-there astral projection rose from Taako. The form was weak, and flittering, but managed 3 scratchy words. "Liches… get… stitches…" 

Angus let out a loud laugh. Of course,  _ of course _ , Taako would manage a zingy one liner, even as he lay unconscious and near-dead. 

Magnus, who was now digging through his belongings, laughed as well. In the calm Angus was finally able to acknowledge how odd it was to hear sounds from a figure with no mouth. "Now, to be fair, I think we will all agree that Taako would want to die after making that joke, so we should just let him go peacefully into that good night." 

He seemed to find whatever he was looking for, as he pulled a small glass ball out of his belongings. Angus squinted, trying to focus on the burst of orange in the ball despite his blurry vision. Was that a goldfish? How did it eat? Where did it's poop go? 

Regardless, the fish seemed none the worse for wear from his time in Edwards possession, much to Magnus's relief. 

Angus at that point had gotten tired of the world being a strange, nonsensical blur and turned around to start feeling for his glasses. They and the ash were both dark, so it took some feeling around, and then some polishing so that he could actually see out of them. By the time he was situated, Taako was awake and making goofs with Merle and Magnus. 

With his friends taken care of, the boy turned his attention to the next most important thing: the bell. Mr.Red-lich was hovering over it, trying to get the other three's attention. 

Dusting the dirt off of his pants, Angus made his way over to the bell. There was something… interesting about it. He didn’t normally have any interest in necrotic magic, but look at all that the liches had done with it? What other possibilities were there?

He shook himself sharply, what was he thinking? This wasn’t like him. He steeled himself, recognizing that something, perhaps the bell itself, was trying to influence his thinking. With that in mind, he pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket and was careful to keep it between his hand and the bell. 

He lifted the bell carefully, hand cupping below to catch the clapper so that he wouldn’t accidentally ring the bell and… kill someone or something. 

“Wait, Ango, No!” Magnus suddenly shouted, and the child turned to see all three adventurers and the robe looking at him in near horror. 

Then he heard  _ the voice _ . It was soft, pleasant, and extremely enticing. “How would you like to live forever?” 

Angus looked at the bell in his hands with shocked, wide eyes, certain that the question came from it, as did the pulses and promises of powers that emanated through his hanky. The boy licked his lips, staring at the bell in wonder before finally replying, “Sir, I don’t think you have my best interest at heart.” 

And he carried the bell to the trio, ignoring all other attempts to coax him. “Here you go, sir.” Angus said, holding the bell out to Magnus. “I uh, I assume this was what you were looking for.”

Magnus took the bell, but Angus couldn’t see any expression on his wooden face. Taako, however, was cracking up. Merle grumbled, “We’re the only ones who can resist these things, my foot.” 

“Y-Yeah,” Taako agreed between laughs. “She probably- probably just wanted to keep from having to hire new people.” 

“Too much paperwork.” Magnus agreed, sticking the bell into one of his bags. The instant he did so, a change went through Wonderland. A huge gust of wind rushed past them, knocking the mannequins down and drawing in the black smog. The smog filled the room, clustering around the group, Angus held his breath, afraid to breathe in as the smog completely covered them, making it impossible to see the men only a few feet away. He stumbled forward, reaching for his friends, but before he could find any of them, the wind changed directions. The smog was lifted, black smoke carried away into the wind. 

With it, Wonderland disappeared. Angus looked around in shock. They were in an open clearing, the only sign that it had ever existed was the group of 20 or so other people. The strangers looked just as beat up as the four of them, all looking around in confusion, relief, and a bit of hope. 

Some of them disappeared immediately, while others simply stood around, unsure of what happened. Surprisingly, the group that they had ‘Forsaken’ had stuck around. Though, maybe that wasn’t so surprising, Angus amended as he remembered that his friends had seemed to know them. Rather than listen in, Angus idly did a lap around the clearing, hoping against hope that some of their sacrifices might be around somewhere. He wanted his notebook to write down how Taako’s umbrella had eaten a lich of it’s own accord. He wanted the familiar weight of his silverware. He wanted his entrance paperwork from the orphanage, in case he ever wanted to try to investigate his parents. He hadn’t gotten around to it yet, but he wanted the option to do so someday. 

He made it back to the group empty handed, but instead of joining in their conversation he just kinda collapsed in the grass. He thought he deserved a breather, a moment to process the… everything. Soon enough, possibly too soon but Angus couldn’t blame them for not wanting to stick around, they were following the lich into the Felicity Wilds. Angus had hung back at first, not sure of his welcome as they usually split ways the moment the adventure ended. Then, Taako had looked back and yelled “Hurry up squirt. We won’t wait up just cause your legs are super tiny.” 

That was all the incentive the boy detective had needed to start running to join them. When they had made a good distance away, the lich in the red robe stopped them. 

“I don’t blame you for not trusting me right now, but I promise everything’s gonna make sense real soon.”

Angus trusted him, it was hard not to after all the lich did for them, but from the look the others shared he got the impression that they knew something that he did not. Maybe something he couldn’t know without his brain turning to static and mush. 

Magnus shrugged. “I literally have nothing to lose. So like,  _ sure.” _

Suddenly, there was the sound of static as three sets of Stones of Farspeech went off at once. “Hello? ********, are you there? Magnus, Merle, Taako, Are. You. There? Answer me immediately.” The voice on the other side was that of an older female, authoritative and more than a little worried. 

The lich immediately froze and put a skeletal finger up to his face in the universal symbol of  _ quiet _ . He held out his hand, thrusting it at them and insistently asking for their stones. 

Magnus complied and convinced the other two to do it as well. Angus was reaching for his stone when the lich  _ crushed _ the three stoned in his hand. 

Taako seemed stoked. “Oh yeah, goin’ rogue! Been waitin’ for this the whole time! Yes! Off the grid!” He pulled out a list of receipts and IOUs, shredding them instantly. “Taako’s always ready for this! I’m ready to go off the grid at any moment!”

Angus gripped his own stone protectively before reluctantly handing it over as well, but the robed figure shook his head. “No, you uh, as far as I know you don’t have any contacts that I’m worried about. You can keep your stone, pal.” 

Angus sighed in relief, but looked up when a peal of thunder sounded ahead. The sky was dark and heavy, seemingly full of stormclouds though not a single drop of rain fell. The lich looked to the sky as well and urged them to continue walking so that they could make some headway. He warned that the next day could possibly be rough. Then, to Angus’s interest, he pulled out a small coin and seemed to make a verbal note. 

Where did one have to shop to get one of them?

Merle led them through the forest, competently leading them through the trees and not-so-competently trying to convince them to a dead, bloated racoon carcass. Finally, when the sun was just barely clinging on this side of the horizon, the dwarf found the perfect camping clearing. There was a fire pit at its center and three stumps carved into chairs that looked extremely comfortable. Angus settled into one of the stumps (Magnus gave his up since he was a mannequin and therefore literally could not be comfortable. Taako joked that he might set himself on fire if he moved around too much) pulling a meal pack out of his backpack to snack on. 

Taako started a fire and settled a cooking pot on it to start a meal. Magnus was examining the stools carefully. “Hey wait you guys, I think I made these! Yeah, I carved these like, months ago. Oh, I know where we are! This is close to Wave Echo Cave! ********* is right around here.” 

“Oh yeah!” Taako perked. “Remember when we set ********* on fire, good times, good times.” 

The group continued to chat, talking about things that were mostly static for a while, but over dinner the conversation somehow changed to how they had met each other, and met Klarg for the first time. It filled in a lot of blanks (so that’s why Klarg’s dog was afraid of fire), and was generally amusing. Angus thought he was still laughing as he succumbed to sleep. 

He woke to the sound of Magnus complaining about weird dreams and the others packing up camp. He helped to pack up and they went on their way through the wilds and into a cave in the foothills of a mountain. In the cave, the lich led them to what looked like a lair. The room was absolutely covered in magical tomes, maps, and images. Some of them had notes and connecting strings. Angus tried to peek through it, but half of it was illegible or blurry in the familiar way that he was getting used to. As was his habit he scrutinized the gibberish and fuzzy pictures for a long moment, straining to find something familiar. As always he failed and turned his mind to the deductions that he  _ could  _ make. So the lich was involved with the  _ pshhh _ items as well. That made sense, given the context of their meeting. 

In one corner sat a human-sized glowing pod, with what looked like a body growing in it. Angus was slightly less okay with the lich at that, but everything was so weird at this point, he decided to hold judgment. 

The figure in red spoke up once they’d all looked their fill. “Events that’ve been in motion for over a decade are about to reach critical mass. There are gaps in your stories that are unimaginably massive. But before the end of this day, I promise you they will be filled.” 

Angus felt a frisson of excitement for that before realizing that the figure was most likely talking to his companions rather than him. Disappointing, but not necessarily uncommon when one typically ran with crowds greater than twice their age. The lich hadn’t kicked him out yet though, in fact they seemed to be making it a point to invite him along, and that was pretty much the best he could ask for. 

The figure went on to explain that the pod would allow him to regain his body, but at the expense of his memory and necrotic powers. Magnus had been practically vibrating in excitement at the news until the ghost had explained that it would take too long to create a new body. Angus was concerned when the Lich said that they only had  _ hours  _ before whatever he was scared about came into fruition, and Angus determined that no matter what, he would be there to help. Even if he had to sneak in. In fact, that moment on, he listened with half an ear, the other part of his mind planning how to sneak in and join them. They wouldn’t be leaving him behind this time. 

The figure finished by casting a grave look on the group. “If we all follow my commands, we  _ will  _ be successful. I have been planning this for some time and I believe wholeheartedly in my preparations.”

Then, he disappeared into the tank, pausing only long enough to ask Merle to grab him some clothes out of the small wooden box in the corner. 

Angus watched carefully as the figure in the pod moved and pitched about, and so he was completely unprepared when Merle started laughing maniacally. Angus whirled to see the dwarf holding up a pair of denim jeans with a huge grin on his face. Magnus and Taako started laughing and clapping as well. Angus was so confused by the display, that he barely turned in time to see the pod split and release a stout, naked human man. 

Angus had no clue who this was. 


	10. Lunar Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading and commenting!!!! You guys are amazing and inspire me to write!! I hope you enjoy the twists and turns ahead! (Though I think a lot of you have already figured a few things out.)

The naked man from the pod looked around at the three of them, a dwarf, a wizzard, a little boy, and a sentient mannequin with trepidation. “I’m… I don’t remember what I did last night, but I must have partied pretty hard to end up like, like this. Who are you guys and, um, also,” He pointed at Angus. “No offense to you kid, but I hope that my night wasn’t so wild that you’re mine.” 

Angus was too amused by the man’s confusion to be offended. “I think you would have to be forgetting a lot more than the one night for that to be true sir.” Though, it would stand to reason that the man had lost more than one night, Angus very very highly doubted that he was related to the red robe. Just a hunch, but it seemed reasonable given the man’s pale skin and red-brown hair, and Angus’s own dark skin and near-black hair. 

“Yeah, that’s uh, that’s a good point there, bud.” The man said, “Uh, can I have those pants that you’re holding there, dwarf guy?” Angus noticed that the nickname of ‘pal’ had disappeared, which was odd. It was almost like the man had known him in his other form and forgotten him. But how, where would he have known the red robed figure? 

Angus’s head started to grow fuzzy as he tried to follow that train of thought, and without his notebook he dropped it and paid attention to the introductions. “And I’m Angus, World’s Greatest Detective.”

“I don’t… I don’t remember any of this, do I know you guys? Where are we? Why do I need a detective?”

After several confusing moments where the trio couldn’t agree on when exactly they had last seen the man, apparently named Barold per Magnus, the mannequin finally remembered the coin that should be doing this for them. 

The stranger lifted the coin to the air, and it immediately started talking. “Your name is Barry Bluejeans. You are afraid of the dark. Your very favorite thing in the world is swimming in very cold water on a very hot day.” The coin continued to give the man’s life story, but Angus could only think, oh Bluejeans, now the pants thing makes sense. Although, somehow it had never not made sense. His confusion at the pants had ended when he’d seen the man’s face and that… that didn’t make sense. Why was he, why did he feel like there was more to this man? To that end, why did he trust the lich so easily? There was something more to this, he knew it. If only he could think. Past. All. This.  _ Static _ . 

Suddenly the coin said, “Boys, this is my true form and now that you know that, your brains are gonna try to start to remember other things about me, and as much as you can you need to resist that urge;” Now he tells them. “Because for nearly a year now I’ve had to play a part that I’m uncomfortable with in order for you to not remember, in order to avoid raising someone’s suspicion. But believe me when I say I’ve been watching out for you the whole time. Angus,”

The boy jumped, not expecting to be addressed so directly. “I-I’m sorry I haven’t been watching out for you the same way, pal. I looked for you, I promise, but I must have just kept missing you. But somehow, you all found each other anyway, and I can’t express how glad I am. You haven’t seen me, and I know that you’re too smart to trust someone blindly, and I can only hope that what I’ve done for you in Wonderland, and the knowledge that I’ve been watching out for these knuckleheads, will be enough for me to gain your trust. Or at least the benefit of the doubt.” 

Angus nodded. He didn’t trust easily, not normally at least. He wasn’t sure why he was so trusting now, but his instincts insisted and they rarely steered him wrong. 

“So, I only have one question, Barry. And I know you’re just getting your sea legs again. Why did you feel it necessary to remind yourself that you’re afraid of the dark?” Taako asked. “It seems like that’s the anti-Secret. You’re doing reverse visualization right now. It seems like maybe you go to the dark and you just see how things go.”

Magnus added, “Yeah, were you worried you’d get to the dark and be like, ‘Why do I feel this way?’” 

Taako laughed. “What is this feeling!?”

“The purpose of the coins introduction was to convince Mr. Bluejeans that the voice really was him, sir. Not to act as a character guide.” 

“Ah, gotcha.” The elf nodded as the coin started up again. It explained that the map on the desk, the one Angus had studied but hadn’t been able to see really, was the blueprints to some static-place where they would find a vault. Most of the instructions had faded to static for an increasingly frustrated Angus, but he got the gist of the important bits. They needed something from the vaults, preferably without accidentally killing Barry. The three adventurers huddled together, seriously talking about the pros and cons of listening to the coin. Angus tried to listen in to offer his own opinion, but so much of the argument was lost to static that he backed away from the group.

This was bad, if he couldn’t understand them, it could be very difficult to convince them to bring him with them. He wasn’t hanging back though, not this time. If Lich-Barry was correct, then they would need all the help they could get. He would have to sneak along. Which would be a lot easier if he knew how they got to the place they were infiltrating or where it was. 

Suddenly the coin spoke up again, drawing the boy’s attention away from his musings. 

“You’ll need to disguise Magnus, obviously, and don’t let anyone touch him or we’ll be discovered.” Well there was an idea. Magnus couldn’t… feel anything. If he was disguised, or if he had his gear, maybe he could just kinda… hitch a ride. 

“Okay, that tracks.” Taako said with a nod, an odd, disatisfied look on his face. “Listen, I have an update from Taako Central. Uh, I’ve updated my list of people I trust and things I believe to no one and nothing!” Merle laughed. “Not a joke, I don’t trust you, half-pint, I don’t trust Jeff from Today’s Special, I don’t trust Barold whatever his name—nobody, I trust nobody, nothing. And I’m— I have, you’ve convinced me to add The Director and her crew, her coterie to that list, but it does not extend— it is no one. There is nothing and no one. Except Agnes. I trust him implicitly, but no one else!”

Angus straightened, proud of the singular honor. 

“Well natch,” Magnus said, “But is it at least a sliding scale, Taako? Do you trust us like, a little less or a little more than The Director, where are we at as far as placement? On the—” 

“It’s a big ol’ void! All orbiting planet Taako, of non-trust!” 

“Hey uh,” Barry said, and they turned to see that he had fully dressed and was packing up the maps and some notes. “I-I don’t wanna rush y’all but the coin just said we should get the lead out so, uh, I know I don’t really know y’all but I feel like I… should? And I feel like I should trust ya, so I’m gonna chase that feeling for now and um, I’m ready when y’all are.”

Taako established a few more times that he still wasn’t trusting anyone or anything, but did help them to finish packing up. They decided to claim that Magnus had died, and that they were using one of the mannequins from Wonderland as something of a servant or pack mule in the meantime. Which helped Angus with his whole sneak on by clinging to Magnus’s back plan as they all piled up their bags and crap on him. Barry was stuck in Taako’s spa, which Angus could have done, but he remembered his time when Taako had ‘kidnapped’ him too clearly. It was difficult to escape the spa when it was in a bag, and he didn’t want to risk it. He didn’t make a point of him staying or trying to leave, hoping that in the panic and preparation they would just kind of… forget about him. They left the cave to see a world surrounded by pitch black clouds and a heavy weight to the air, like a storm was coming though no wind blew and no rain fell. He shivered to himself and watched as Taako pressed a button on his bracelet, and an orb floated from the sky. He moved immediately, clutching at some of the straps that held the bags to Magnus and clinging on like Odysseus clinging to the belly of a sheep to sneak past a cyclops. 

It seemed to work. Though Magnus seemed surprised by the weight when he stood, he didn’t mention it to the others, and as he entered the strange pod last, no one noticed his passenger. 

Angus dropped off as the mannequin sat, rolling and hiding behind one of the chairs, thankfully silent despite the loss of his natural stealth in Wonderland. 

The ride was fast, bumpy, and something Agnus had never experienced before. He didn’t particularly want to experience it again either. He remained in his hiding spot when they landed, barely peeking out from his spot behind the chairs. Immediately, his stomach rolled, nausea filling him as the world around him seemed out of focus and blurry. He sat heavily in his seat, struggling not to breathe too heavily as a headache began to throb. Luckily, the sensation wasn’t entirely foreign. In fact, it felt just like when he was in the simulation room in Wonderland and they were fighting the on-fire thing. It took a few moments, but after a while he was able to ignore the effects for the most part. 

He peeked out of the orb to see a group of people standing around Merle, Taako, and Magnus. He recognized two of them, Carey and Killian from his Missing persons investigation (he  _ knew  _ that had been connected with the static), but the human, gnome, and, uh, robot, were unfamiliar. Carey was collapsed in Killian’s arms, seemingly crying. Perhaps they had already spilled the beans about Magnus’s “death”. The others seemed saddened by the news as well, though none of them lingered in the garage long. Soon only the human man was left, polishing another one of the orbs and sorrowfully sipping from the flask. 

Shaking his head against the strange feeling, Angus concentrated and carefully cast mage hand to gently knock the jar of polish over as the man was taking a drink. The bottle spilled, and he let out a low curse and bent to pick it up. Still looking extremely dejected, the man left the garage area, presumably to clean the stain off. 

Angus felt bad for worsening the man’s already bad day, which likely wasn’t going to get much better considering they were planning to burgle his place of work. It couldn’t be helped though, he had to move. The child dashed through the garage, peering hesitantly out the door as he reached it. For what was presumably a super secret fortress, there didn’t seem to be much security. 

In fact, there didn’t seem to be anybody. Increasingly cautious, the boy hugged the wall as he explored the quad. There really didn’t seem to be anywhere here, which was odd. He wanted to sneak into one of the many dome-shaped buildings, but any one of them could be hosting everyone else who was supposed to be here. Also, he had no clue where to go because he couldn’t read or understand the map. And his head was still swimming, still hurting. 

Maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea. 

The boy leaned against a tree, panting heavily to keep down his breakfast. He knew from his experience investigating the  _ pshhh _ items, Taako’s umbrella, and the missing people that he was probably making the situation harder on himself. If he were to just glance around, take in as little as possible and mostly ignore his surroundings he wouldn’t be feeling the effects nearly so hard. But that wasn’t how his brain worked. He was always thinking, always analyzing and trying to take in details and make deductions. He was trying to understand  _ everything  _ and because of that, he was fighting just to think clearly. 

He ducked behind a bench in time to avoid the notice of a colorfully dressed bard as he left one of the domes. Angus took a deep breath, it was a risk, there could be others in the building he left, but if he didn’t do something now he would be stuck wandering around, decisive, and nauseous forever. 

Besides, the building the bard left seemed to have a very nice, small entryway that was very appealing. Maybe he could rest there for just a moment, without so much stuff surrounding him. The child snuck into the room just as the doors were starting to slide closed. Immediately he shut his eyes and leaned against the wall, his head bumping into something as he did so. The boy startled when the entryway began to move, scrambling to his feet. He realized that he’d snuck into an elevator, not an entryway, and had accidentally hit the button with his head. 

Well, now he felt foolish. 

The worst part was, if anyone else was in this building, they could be whatever floor he pushed. Scratch that, there was only one floor, they would definitely be on the floor that he pushed. He frantically looked for another button to push, but there were none, and the elevator slowed to a stop while he was looking. The door opened quickly, more quickly than he was expecting, too quickly for him to prepare. He pulled out his wand and crossbow automatically, prepared to face whatever he found on the other side of the doors. 

He wasn’t ready for whatever was on the other side of the doors. Mostly because he couldn’t  _ see  _ it. Or at least, he couldn’t comprehend it. Luckily, there were no humanoids in the room, just a… something in a tank. The… thing, whatever he thought it was, was moving frantically, almost… excitedly. Angus took a few dizzy steps forward. Somehow, the fog around this creature was far greater than the general fog that was surrounding everything. That meant something. 

He thought. 

It was so hard to think. 

However, if his investigation into the things blocked by static, if the pages and pages of notes he’d sacrificed to Wonderland, had taught him anything it was that when the static was the worst, that was where the truth was hiding. He forced himself into the room, touching the glass of the tank carefully. The thing was immediately on the other side of the class, as though trying to connect with him. 

“What… are you?” He mused to himself, and startled when the being made a few chiming sounds in reply. It moved away from in front of him, moving to the side. The boy followed instinctively, trailing after the creature as it led him to a spot in the tank where a spigot. On a small table near the spigot sat a handful of cups. The boy took a deep breath and looked at the thing, which had stilled and was watching him almost expectantly. 

“I hope my deductions are correct, because if not, I’m about to do something really gross for no reason.” 

Then, he filled the cup with water from the tank and quickly, before he could talk himself out of it, downed the whole thing in a single chug. It tasted… fishy. Suddenly the boy fell to his knees clutching his head as memories, thoughts and understanding flooded through him. He’d been investigating  _ Boyland _ , the patriarch that time with the dwarves, they were on a Moon Base that Taako, Magnus, and Merle talked about all the time, he- he was finally able to understand past conversations and words. He knew some of the relics, some of their names. He could understand more of Lich-Barry’s instructions, he- he could remember the map that he’d studied so intently. 

The boy stood on shaking legs. He knew where to go now, his memory of the map was enough. Some things were still static, his conversation with Istus, some of what Magnus had said recently, some of the clues on the treasure map he’d decoded, but he knew enough. He turned to see what the creature in the tank had been and was stunned to see a gorgeous jellyfish-like creature. It was huge, several times his size, with trailing tentacles and what looked like a galaxy caught in its body. Angus couldn’t help going up to it, pressing his hand against the glass once more. 

“You’re amazing.” He breathed, watching as it trailed a tendril up to meet his hand on the side of the tank. It made its strange chiming sound again, and he tapped the glass in reply, trying for his long-since memorized Morse Code. The creature chimed again, seeming to like the tapping, but the boy couldn’t understand it’s reply. He was just about to try again when the elevator chimed, the light above it indicating that it had started going up. 

“Oh no!” The boy gasped, turning to the gorgeous jellyfish. “Is there another way out of here?” 

The fish chimed a way that the boy sensed was a denial, and he started scrambling, looking for a place to hide, but there was very little in the room. He doubted hiding under the table would serve him well long. 

Suddenly, he had an idea. The boy pulled out his wand, preparing to cast ‘Disguise Self’. His mind cast frantically through the few people he’d seen already. Who was closest to his height? Merle? But he was too short. Boyland? Who knew where he was or if he was even still alive. Oh! The dwarf they’d given the Animus Bell to! 

He cast the spell an instant before the door opened, and the bard from earlier stepped out. He seemed startled to see Angus. “Didn’t expect to see you here. Thought you’d be destroying the relic. Did you need me for something, Davenport?” 

Well, that was certainly a different name. Unthinkingly, Angus repeated it, just to feel the name on his tongue. “Davenport?” He froze, certain he’d just given himself away, but the bard just shrugged as though repeating your name was in any way, shape, or form an appropriate response to that question. Wary of committing further blunders, Angus slipped past the bard and into the elevator.

“Well, alrighty then, see ya at the party later.” 

Angus nodded, afraid to speak, and pressed the button to go back to the other level. He sighed in relief and leaned against the wall of the elevator once the doors had fully closed. He didn’t drop the disguise though. Hopefully, it would give him a little more freedom to go around the moon. He knew where the others were headed now though, and could see the map clearly now in his memory. With that in mind, he headed through the base towards the director’s office. He had to hide at one point, as the gnome he was disguised as walked out of the very building he was headed to, accompanied by a stately looking older woman and a pair of guards. He held his breath as they went past, but they were all looking ahead in determination, the woman occasionally glancing at the sky worriedly. He waited until they were well out of eyesight to move, sneaking back into the building. If he ran into anyone, he could always say that he had forgotten something. He wished he knew what the gnome’s voice sounded like, but he could always say he had a cold or somethin. 

Luckily, there was no one in the large hall he looked into. Peeking in windows, the boy saw what looked like an incredibly complex piece of machinery on one side of the building. It was interesting, but that wasn’t what he was here for. No, he wanted… the Director’s office, that’s right. 

As was the theme of the night, the office was empty. There was a large desk in the middle, and behind it was a portrait and a door. He snuck up to the door, surprised to find it unlocked, and was shocked to see Taako and Merle just on the other side. Taako was holding the coin, looking at it in confusion as it seemingly gave step-by-step instructions to circumvent a trap that was no longer there. 

He opened his mouth and dropped his disguise, fully prepared to confront them, but they stepped into the hallway seconds before he could. Immediately they collapsed, laying prone for a bare second before they started screaming and thrashing. An alarm sounded as well, only a beat behind their collapse, but Angus shot out a silencing spell before even the first clang finished. (That spell was extremely helpful in his detective work, so he’d gotten very good at it)

The boy rushed towards his friends, but hesitated before actually stepping out into the hallway. Whatever was happening, he wanted to help, but he had to do it smart or else he would be stuck in it as well. 

Luckily, he ended up not having to do anything. Suddenly, Taako said. “Wait a minute, this isn’t real.” And sat up, the illusion dispelled. He pulled a band out of his pocket, and that somehow broke Merle out of the spell as well. The men looked around and seemed to notice the silence spell. Angus cleared his throat and the pair whirled on him. Taako broke out into a huge grin. 

“Nice magic, little man!”

Angus smiled, then took a deep breath. “I snuck onto the moon. I drank the fish water. I can- I can understand now. So start talking, I— I need to know what you know.”

Taako let out a huge sigh, lifting his hands up on a gesture that was almost frustrated. “Finally, I don’t know why we didn’t think to do this like, 7 chapters ago. Angus, I trust you implicitly and here’s the exact 100% truth as we understand it because if anybody can figure out what’s going on, it’s you. So hook me up.”

Angus dropped his wand, letting it swing on the lanyard around his neck. This could have gone badly, and he was really really glad that it hadn’t. The elf gave a quick, five minute run down of a story that could very well take days to tell, magical relics that they had been tasked to destroy. At one point Barry had crawled out of the bag, claiming claustrophobia, and he seemed equally amazed. 

Finally the elf teetered off. Angus was sure there was much more to say, but they didn’t have much time. 

“Taako, thank you. You… I know I haven’t been all that helpful to you guys on this kind of stuff, but I promise you, I am— I’m good at this. You haven’t been able to tell me the whole truth before now, but since you can now, let me help you figure it out.”

Merle nodded. “Well, it’s right down this hall, on the other side of that door.”

Angus nodded, preparing to follow them. Taako stopped him before he could. 

“But listen, Angus? You should know something.”

“Yeah?”

“We’re like, breaking and entering in an organization that until a few hours ago, we only knew of being good. We are, uh, committing some major crimes here my dude. If you stick with us, you are… you’re kind of… you’re kind of a bad guy, too. This is not specifically, technically, something we’re supposed to be doing.” 

Angus smiled and led the way to the door. “The ones lookin’ for the truth, well, they’re never the bad guys. I know that from my Caleb Cleveland novels.” He was so glad he hadn’t given those up, if only for the look on Taako’s face. 

“Precious.” The elf muttered. 

The next door had a strange keypad next to it, one with eight empty spaces. The coin said nothing at this point, and they all kinda looked at the door at a loss. Angus glanced at his lockpicking supplies (also very handy in detective-work), but the lock was too foreign. He didn’t have a clue where to begin with it. He analyzed it from all angles, but couldn’t find any tricks, alarms, or traps. “This doesn’t appear to be trapped or anything. Maybe just, I don’t know, Taako, Merle, maybe just try somethin’ out, just to calibrate our efforts?”

Instead of listening to him, Merle pulled out a tiny gnome figure that came to life and started nagging on the dwarf’s life choices. Laughing Taako just tossed a hole-thrower at the door and created an entryway. 

The room on the other end of the door was strikingly similar to Barry’s cave. The walls were lined with maps that were filled with codes and notes. Strings connected pertinent points and locations. The desk was piled high with stacks of neatly arranged paper, books, and notebooks. Towards the back of the desk were two very tall, completely even stacks of journals, with inkwells and empty journals sitting in front of them. Beside that was a small religious symbol floating in midair over a desk. Angus didn’t recognize it, but if Merle’s face was anything to go on, he did. Strangely, also on the desk, in a cup holding extra quills and pencils, were a cluster of his silverware. Just three pieces, a set like he often sold to pawnshops. He pulled them out of the cupholder carefully. What were they doing here? 

Angus was so preoccupied with the silverware that he didn’t notice the tank at the corner until the coin drew attention to it. “Okay. Now you should’ve had enough time by now to get in there and drink. So you should be remembering now, but it may take you a while. But the short version: we’re all ******* and ****** was one of us, but ******. Now if we can reach ******, we should be able to ****** before ******.” 

Drink. Angus finally spotted the tank in the corner. As with the jellyfish earlier, as with most things earlier, his mind had a hard time grasping what it was, and couldn't really comprehend it. Well, he knew what to do when he came to a fish tank that made him feel like this. 

He pocketed the silverware and took a few steps to the tank, but as he did so a bell above it started ringing and clanging in a deafening noise. He didn’t have time to silence it this time, though Merle tried. Instead, he ran forward, cupping his hands to pool a drink of water and chugging it down. Taako had a flask and did the same, passing it to Merle as Barry filled a canteen of his own. 

Angus blinked as his vision cleared, seeing an adorably small version of the stunningly gorgeous fish he’d seen earlier. 

“Woah, a little baby fish! How cute!” He tapped at the glass, trying for the rhythm that the elder had been sounding out earlier. The baby fish held up a tendril in reply, but the boy was distracted when Barry let out a pained cry. He turned to see the man holding his head and shaking it like he was in pain. As if that was a sign of things to come, Angus could feel a pressure building in the back of his head, like a cold or warning of a headache to come. Something deep down in his being was yelling at him, this… was going to suck. 

Barry bit out a warning, urging them not to… not to  _ remember _ , remember what? He asked Merle to take care of the holy symbol. The dwarf did so, removing it from its place and disrupting the magic moments before the area was flooded with guards. 

Barry continued to warn them. “Boys, don’t put up a fight. It’s— things are in motion now and we just kinda gotta go with the flow, but. You’re gonna start remembering soon, but just take it slow, please, I'm begging you. You gotta take it slow.”

The guards grabbed them, seeming confused about Angus’s presence, but the boy wasn’t resisting. The pounding in his head was getting worse and worse, and he could feel a storm on the horizon. 

They were led to a room where the stately woman from earlier was channeling some sort of opaque energy from the orb that had seen them place the relic in back in the garage. Surprisingly, Barry broke out of the guards grip and ran forward as if to attack the woman, but the gnome that Angus had been disguised as leaped forward to stop him. 

They wrestled for a moment, but the guards were quick to step in and pull him back to the group. 

Lucretia didn’t move. She was focused, watching the orb with a grim determination. She hadn’t even turned to face them yet, instead completely focussed on channeling the energy into the staff, the grand relic she had created when the eight of them first came to this world. 

What? 

Suddenly Angus cried out, feeling like his head had been struck by lightning as he knelt to the ground in pain. The woman finally turned to them then, whirling, and gasped. “Angus? I- Is that you? But that’s impossible, you should be, it’s been  _ years _ , Angy, how are you still-” 

The boy cried out again, the novel nickname cutting through him and bringing another sharp bit of pain. He could remember this woman tucking him in, telling him stories as he lay on a strange bed in an unfamiliar place. What was-? 

She stepped back, eyes wide with horror. “Did you— did you inoculate yourselves?”

“Yes. We did.” Merle said defiantly. 

“It’s gonna be too much, you’re gonna remember too much, it’s too— it’s too specific, you’ll be  _ killed _ , why— why did you do that?” 

_ Killed?  _

“We’re stupid?” The dwarf offered.

Beside Angus, Barry cast a spell to command someone, Angus couldn’t see who as he clutched his eyes closed, to drink. 

“What did you say?” Lucrecia asked. 

Instead of answering, Barry simply said, “Lucretia, you gotta help them remember. It’s over. You owe them that. You already have the relics, just help them remember. Their— their— their minds are gonna shatter if you don’t.”

The wo- Lucrecia seemed reluctant. No, Angus knew that look (how did he know that look?) she looked like there was nothing she wanted to do less. However, she began to explain. “Okay, listen, boys, Angy, and—just try to follow along as I explain it. Don’t try to think ahead because what happens next is very important. There were eight of us. We came from— we came from another world, another reality.” 

She explained then, recounted a story that seemed ridiculous, despite how he knew it was true. She told a story of a group of researchers and a stowaway, who traveled to worlds and realities beyond their own. She described being pursued and hunted by a destructive force that wanted nothing more than to destroy the wonderful worlds that they experienced. She described creating the relics in order to hide something from the force, the Hunger. When she saw the destruction they had caused, she fed a record of their adventures to the voidfish to make everyone forget so she could collect them. She created the moon base to help her collect and destroy them, only to find that only their creators could resist their thrall. 

She claimed then that the Voidfish had given her a solution with the birth of a child. She had the option to hide their history, while allowing her friends back with enough knowledge to help. She had orchestrated things to manipulate them together, and to ensure they would be offered a position where she could help them. 

“With the light of creation reformed, I can build a barrier to keep the Hunger at bay. I can build a home that all of us can be safe in, together. Save for Lup. I'm so sorry, Taako, Barry, there was nothing I could do.” 

Angus got a flash of memory, a female elf that looked so much like Taako with a wide, mischievous smile. 

“Even Angus! I can’t tell you how overjoyed I am to see you, Angy. I spent so, so long, over ten years, thinking that you were dead. I’m sorry, I couldn’t find you. I tried. When I heard there was a young detective smart enough to see through the people we’d voidfished, I sent my best after you. But when they told me that the detective was only a child, I didn’t think it could be you. It’s been years, and somehow you’re younger than when I last saw you, but- but you’re here now. So it was the seven of us: Me, Barry, Lup, Taako, Merle, Magnus, Angus, and, of course, the eighth. Our captain. When I redacted the logs to feed to the second Voidfish, I let you— I let you keep your names while eradicating any information pertaining to the mission. Especially you, Angy, I tried to keep as much of you as possible, even thinking you were gone, just in case. But, for our captain, his life  _ was _ the mission. He was impossible to edit around and so, unfortunately, his name was all he kept.”

As the last words slipped past her lips, a silver dish covered in coins and tokens fell to the ground, making everyone jump. Angus’s eyes turned to see the gnome he had- to see Davenport, their captain- wiping the last of the voidfish ichor from his lips. “Lucretia?” He asked, sounding horrified. “What have you done?” 

Suddenly the door burst open, Carey, Killian, the robot, and Magnus- somehow back in his body- burst into the room. Angus was amazed to see his friend no longer a mannequin, but the wonder was short lived as he noticed the shadowy beings pursuing the group and practically destroying the base. He recognized them, of course, though doing so caused a new burst of pain. They were aspects of the Hunger. 

It’s the end of the world. Again.

Again? Angus finally gave up, curling in on himself as the world around him faded away, replaced with lost memories of a stolen century.


	11. The Stolen Century Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we're in the Stolen Century!!! I hope everyone is excited, cause this was so much fun to come up with ideas for. 
> 
> This chapter was actually the FIRST that I actually wrote out, after coming up with the idea for the fic. I went back to edit it, but I still feel like for some reason the writing style isn't the same as the rest of the fic. Sorry about that, but I still really love this chapter and I hope you do to!!!

Angus McDonald promised himself that he would never, ever be braggy again. He hadn’t really  _ meant  _ to be braggy. It had just slipped out during the field trip to watch the IPRE press conference. The conference was being held a good distance away from the highly esteemed boarding school that Angus had attended for as long as he could remember, but it was such a momentous event that the school hadn’t hesitated to rent out a nearby hotel so that their students could attend. The school was famous enough that they had been treated to a tour of the facilities before the conference began, and Angus had unthinkingly… been braggy. He’d pointed out poorly guarded doorways, holes in security and good places to hide. That guard was planning to sneak out to meet their significant other, the next would be asleep by 9:30. He hadn’t meant anything by it- it was the kind of observation made in his favorite detective novels. They were skills he’d honed by people watching when no one wanted to talk to him- which was far more often than he would have liked- but next thing he knew, one of the biggest kids in school was challenging him that ‘if the security here is so bad, why don’t you sneak in’.

Angus had quickly-very quickly- tried to backtrack, but almost immediately the rest of the class had joined in and he was overwhelmed with attention from a group that usually ignored him for being a know-it-all-teacher’s-pet. He didn’t  _ want  _ to be naughty, but… well he did very much want to be liked. So he’d agreed to the dare, he’d snuck out of the hotel late in the night as his classmates watched with wide eyes. They had agreed, he would sneak into the StarBlaster itself. He had a small sheet of paper and a bit of charcoal that he would use to take an imprint of something on the ship to prove his success and… and the whole thing was just a terrible idea and Angus was  _ never  _ going to be braggy ever again.

Still, by this point he’d made it by the first guard station-empty- and the second-the guard asleep- and it seemed foolish to give up now before going all the way. Still, the child’s heart beat frantically in his chest as the boy dared to go further into the building. He stuck close to the walls, ducking behind every table, trash can, cabinet, and cart that decorated the halls. It was frighteningly easy, considering this building was supposed to be the most advanced scientific research facility on the planet. He actually managed to make it to the ship, even managed to get inside the StarBlaster, though his young heart felt like it was trying to escape his chest, it was beating so quickly and so frequently.

He’d thought that he would feel less scared once he finally made it onto the ship, but if anything it was even more terrifying. Wandering through the halls he  _ might  _ have been able to claim that he’d gotten lost and was looking for an adult to help. Not the best or most believable excuse, but if he played it right and they were especially gullible, he might have gotten away with it. Not anymore. If he was caught on the ship, there would be no excuse he could give that would be believable. Desperate to make this fast, the child rushed to the control panel, relieved to see that someone had engraved the words ‘StarBlaster’ beside the wheel. Placing the piece of paper over the engraving, the child’s hand nearly blurred in his haste to etch the words onto the paper. He sighed in relief as the words formed, only to freeze in terror when he heard the unmistakable sound of the door of the blaster being opened.

Scrambling back, Angus stuffed the paper and charcoal into his pockets, heart beating so fast it felt like it was going to pop out of his chest. He couldn’t leave now, as far as he could tell there was only the one door. He also couldn’t stay where he was, not without getting into  _ so much  _ trouble.

With only one course of action left, the boy darted deeper into the ship. There was a supply closet beside a small area with a few couches and desks, and Angus hurried to slip into it. He held his breath, eyes stretched wide behind his glasses as he heard footsteps near.

He just had to stay silent and hidden until whoever it was that had come onto the ship was gone. He heard the steps near his hiding area, then the soft ‘woof’ of someone dropping onto a cushioned seat. A moment of silence passed and Angus dared to lean forward and crack open the closet door, risking it despite the fact he hadn’t heard the presence leave. He peeked through to see another one of the guards, one he’d only seen in passing during the tour. The halfling was sprawled out on one of the couches, the picture of boredom. There was a small chest strapped down beside the couch, and the small being lazily flipped it over to reveal a smattering of magazines and books inside. With a bored groan, he pulled out a magazine and began idly flipping through it.

Angus breathed deeply, carefully making his way deeper into the closet, past the useful items such as cleaning supplies and brooms, and into the far back storage to hide behind some crates of emergency rations and gallons of extra water. The halfling would have to return to their actual post eventually, Angus would just have to use that moment to escape, he could do this. He could still make it out of here without getting caught and could go back to his plan to never, ever be braggy again.

The boy stayed crouched in the corner of the closet, hunched in on himself to make himself as small as possible as his keen ears strained to hear the faint sound of magazine pages turning, each moment he hoped more desperately for the sound of footsteps leaving the ship, and each moment fearing that he would never hear it.

“Lup! Get your boots off my bunk!” A voice shouted, starling Angus out of a sleep that he hadn’t known he’d fallen into.

“They’re  _ you’re  _ boots, ‘Ko!” A similar, if higher, voice responded.

“They are not. My boots are maroon, the ones on my bed are burgundy.” The first voice argued, there was the sounds of a groan and the two individuals making their way past the small living area into the sleeping quarters, but at that point Angus could barely hear it over the intense pounding of his heart. Oh no, oh no oh no oh no. He recognized those voices from the press conference. They were two of the astronauts chosen for the voyage. If they were here, then that meant… that meant that he was in  _ so much trouble.  _ The child- who had almost never been caught being especially naughty and had for most of his life been accurately considered a teacher’s pet- was frozen with indecision as the sounds of last-minute preparations rumbled and clanged around him. Did he dare to reveal himself to them and accept the punishment, or did he hope that he could find a time to sneak out?

Heart beating in his small chest, Angus weighed the two options. Unfortunately, as with all indecision, time eventually took the choice from him. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn’t notice as the sounds of packing and preparation got softer, didn’t notice that fewer and fewer people walked past his hidey hole between the sleeping quarters and the consul and seats. However, he did notice when the ground beneath him suddenly started vibrating. With a startled yelp the child jumped to his feet and rushed to the door to reveal himself and beg them to let him go. However, as his fingers brushed the handle the rocket jerked into motion, sending both Angus and several of the less-secure boxes tumbling. For a moment the child lay stunned, half buried under boxes of towels and some paper towels. He tried to yell for help, but the sound of the StarBlaster blasting off was too loud and his cries fell on deaf ears. The boy had finally almost fully extracted himself from the makeshift avalanche when suddenly the ship shuttered and jerked, and the boy fell with another cry. He clung to the bars of the built-in storage shelves, gripping desperately as the ship jerked and bobbed as though fighting a foe he could not see.

By the time the ship was steady enough that the boy risked standing, he was shaking for another reason entirely. It had been so long since the ship first started moving, they wouldn’t be able to take him back, not without messing up the entire multi-million gold mission. He would ruin the whole project. That would be soooo bad. Forget being naughty, by this point he was being criminal. If he got caught he would be expelled at the very least, he could probably even be arrested. His parents would be so mad, they would be so disappointed in him.

Angus whimpered to himself. What was he going to do? He was just a very little boy, this was a lot of responsibility; and a lot of danger. He forced himself to take a few deep breaths, forcing himself to look around the room and assess the situation, like the characters in his books. His eyes lingered on the emergency water and food rations. This mission was only supposed to be for a few months, right? They would go home after that. Well, that was definitely enough food to last more than a few months.

Could he possibly…

With the misguided intensity of a child desperate to hide their wrong-doing, Angus began cleaning up the supplies that had fallen during the takeoff and that patch of rough turbulence. He should be well hidden in the back, but it would be best if they had as little reason to spend time in this small closet as possible. Nagging thoughts pulled at his mind, asking if he really thought he could pull this off for months, what he would do when he was inevitably discovered, what he would say in a few months if he actually succeeded and made it home, but he pushed them out of his mind in favor of carefully arranging the cleaning supplies and grabbing some sheets and towels off of various piles to create some sort of nest in the back. He hoped no one knew about the contents of the supply closet enough to notice that stuff was missing.

This was almost definitely a  _ horrible  _ idea.

* * *

This was absolutely definitely a horrible idea.

Angus stood at the door of the StarBlaster, biting his lip as he gazed out at the densely packed jungle beyond. According to the marks that Angus had been scratching into one of the boxes, they had flown around for a few weeks (or at least, a few weeks’ worth of times that the living room had gone dark for several hours). It had sounded like they had stuck around the ship for several days later, until finally they had started to make plans to explore the land. Or at least, that’s what Angus had assumed. Magnus’s voice often seemed to carry even when he was speaking normally, and occasionally the elf twins would speak loudly enough for him to hear, but even on the best of days he only heard about a fifth of a conversation. Still, he’d heard enough to get a hint of what was going on, and the hint was confirmed once they started raiding his usually secluded closet for supplies. For once he’d even had to actually hide, though at that point he’d used enough of their emergency stores that with some minor rearranging he was able to actually fit inside one of the boxes in the back. That had been a week or so ago. Every day everyone but one person would leave, not coming back until well into the evening and often speaking in loud, excited voices. The expedition was a success, it seemed.

Not that that affected Angus much.

He’d occasionally risked sneaking out of the closet during the night, and other than a couple close calls he’d managed okay. He’d even managed to get through some of the books, though many of them were advanced technological texts. However, he’d been constricted to the closet for months and as a very curious and active little boy, he was going out of his mind with boredom. After a while the continuous tediousness started to get to the child, and his mind had begun wandering in a dangerous direction. Surly if he got off the ship, just for a few hours, it would be okay. He could explore, stay away from people, and if he got back soon he should be able to find a way to sneak back on without issue. He’d kept his presence a secret for long enough after all, he could manage the few more weeks needed until the two months were over.

So, he’d made plans. It seemed to take ages before the IPRE members finally left, but eventually he had the ship to himself. Or, to himself and to whoever was left behind to watch the ship, but he’d heard one of the doors in the back slam shut about half an hour ago, so he should be free for a little while.

Pulling his makeshift backpack up on his thin, young shoulders; the boy jumped down the steps. The stairs to the ship were steep, and he found himself needing to jump rather than step, though he hoped that they weren’t so tall that he would have difficulty getting back in. The backpack was nothing more than a thin plastic bag that he’d poked holes into and threaded through, but it held a decently sized canteen, a few rations, and some emergency supplies well enough, and in the end that was all that mattered.

When Angus finally reached the ground he smiled, face tilted up to feel the warm sun as he took in a deep breath of cool, fresh air. The air smelled different from his home planet, full of a myriad of different flowers, fruits, and other unfamiliar plants. Even the dirt smelled fresh and earthy.

It was  _ heaven  _ after day after day of crouching in a small, dim room.

There was a broad grin on the boy’s face as he picked a direction at random and began to explore. There was a tall, distinctive tree with colorful leaves and vibrant flowers beside the ship, and he made sure to keep it in sight. The tree was tall, and it gave him a decent area to wander. It was  _ amazing _ . Everywhere he looked there was a different plant, beautiful flower, or unusual rock formation. He avoided all fruits and mushrooms, but carefully picked a few of the prettiest flowers to place into his bag.

He found a creek and spent a few moments jumping in it, marveling at the crystal-clear water and picking up a few empty shells. Making sure that the tree was still in sight, the child followed the trail of the stream, splashing in it until the currents became too strong and he struck to walking along the shore. After a while the boy’s noticed that the air was getting a bit cooler, the sun going from the bright yellow-white of a full shine to the orange of a setting sun. He had just determined that it would be smart to start heading back to the ship when he heard the sound of a waterfall in the distance. With a grin the boy decided that he would head back after seeing the falls, eager to see the drop.

It didn’t take long. The creek wasn’t a large waterfall, but it led to a deep canyon. A much larger river lay at the bottom of the crevice, one that was obviously fed by a waterfall much further to the west. Curiosity stated, the child nodded to himself and turned to go back to the ship.

He froze, heart going cold when turning brought him face to face with a  _ gicantic _ wolf. The beast’s shoulder was nearly to angus’s nose, and were it standing straight it would likely have 8 inches on him or more. At the moment it wasn’t standing straight, but it’s head was bent near the ground with ears pulled back. It’s nose was flaring and it was making an unfamiliar chittering sound.

Angus’s heart beat as fear coursed through him, recognizing the predator as the threat that it was. The child took a hesitant, terrified step back as the creature neared, it’s nostrils flaring and ears pulled tight back. Then, he took another, and another, until his luck ran out and the child stepped on a twig, making it snap with a crack that seemed to echo in the tense silence. The wolf’s head shot up in his direction, and Angus turned and started sprinting. Unfortunately, he had forgotten the creek behind him, and the waterfall beyond. The child stumbled into the water, letting out a bitten off cry as he struggled to right himself. The relentless, swirling depth were nothing like the carefully cultivated still pools of his school, or the gentle shore of the lakehouse that served as his parent’s summer home.

He tried to scream, but his mouth got filled with brackish water, his glasses were torn from his face, and from his water-logged eyes he could see the wolf running along the shore, tracking him. Then, his head went under and he had to close his eyes. The water turned shallow as he caught on a lip, but the current pushed him forwards.

He was falling. The child hit the water with a splash that was lost in the constant roar of the water, and then it was dark…. All dark. 

* * *

A spotted tail flicked as a large jaguar watched cubs of three species playing an intricate game of hide and seek, her ever-moving ears and twitching nose ensuring that she knew where each of the cubs were even as they hid. A russet fox lay spread out on a large, flat rock a few yards away, basking in the sun though her ears twitched just as frequently as the jungle cat’s.

The jaguar let out a displease rumble as she watched the largest cub- the only one who wasn’t either jaguar or cat, a two-legged creature that needed to drape itself in the pelts of others to remain warm, with fur only at the top of its head. The poor thing seemed to be nearly deaf and had no sense of smell to speak of, and had great difficulty seeing things that were far away. She and the fox had been training him for a few months now though, and he was proving to be a fantastic tracker so long as the tracks were within a few feet of his face, and she purred as he quickly found each of the other 5 cubs.

The strange cub was smart as well, intuitive. The cub had hidden underneath a gooseberry bush. There were no berries this time of year (the plant was a late bloomer that didn’t bear fruit until very late fall, early winter. At the first frost, the flowers would fall off, with the fruit coming soon after. It would be a few more months before any fruit formed), but the branches were full of pungent, sweet-smelling flowers that would disguise his scent. There was a bee hive in the tree that shadowed it. The insects wouldn’t hurt the cubs unless they felt threatened, but the buzzing would cover up some of the noise any creature made by simply existing. She rumbled contentedly as one of the fox kits stopped counting and began bounding around their idyllic glen, searching for her siblings.

The contented rumble soon fell away, as it had often of late. The fox beside her twitched, stretching out it’s neck to get a final burst of warmth before she rolled onto her feet.

“Come on, out with it.” The fox said in the chittering language that all animals shared, the language that they’d had to teach their newest cub through months of long hours.

The jaguar said nothing, instead only twitching an ear dismissively, her tail still shifting in agitation. The fox pounced on her tail, a perfect mirror of her daughter below, who had gotten distracted from seeking out her siblings to chase a butterfly.

“Don’t ear flick me. Something has been bothering you for weeks now. We need to talk about it.” Though her words were harsh, she spoke them softly, with true worry in her eyes. The jaguar sighed and nodded. She and the fox had been friends for as long as she could remember, and when the vixen’s mate had been killed by an illness the same week that the jaguar’s love had been buried in a landslide, they had decided to raise their children together, no longer two single mothers, but something… different. Their different species and sizes made it so they could be nothing more, but they were as close as they could be in every other way. That is all to say, the vixen could read the Jaguar in a way no one else could. Possibly even better than her love had been able to, though bless his heart he’d tried.

“It’s just… the eagle says that the others of his kind have been integrating into the community. One of them is even training under the great bear, and they all can speak our language. I’m just worried… don’t you ever think we should bring him to them?”

The fox shook her head violently, a movement so definitive that the jaguar’s ear’s flattened against her head. She could feel herself growing defensive, hackle’s raising until the vixen spoke.

“No. I have a deal with a crow friend, he and his murder are keeping an eye on them for me. They haven’t once asked about him, haven’t given any indication that they are worried for their missing cub. He hasn’t asked about them either. For them not to worry about him, and for him not to ask to return to them… I don’t like the sound of that. No, until I have a reason to think otherwise, I think he is safest here with us.”

The jaguar purred and relaxed. Of course. She should have gone to the vixen about this a while ago, she was so  _ clever _ , of course she had thought this through. Speaking of clever…

“The cubs are planning something.” She said, and the vixen’s head shot to where all 6 cubs (2 jaguar cubs, 3 fox kits, and 1… something) were huddled in a small cluster and speaking in whispers.

The fox let out a small barking laugh. “At some point we  _ will  _ need to teach them subtlety.”

The jaguar let out a huff of a laugh. “Not yet though, I much prefer to know when they have something up their whiskers.” The fox hummed in agreement, and they both watched as the cubs scattered into what looked like another round of their hiding game. Perhaps they were just changing the rules a bit, without planning anything nefarious. Both mothers knew their children too well to put much stock in that option.

Still, the game seemed to continue as normal for a round or two, long enough for the adults to let down their guard, basking in the sun on the rocks once more. The jaguar was actually in the midst of a yawn, trying to determine if it was almost time to call the cubs in for their midday nap, when suddenly a weight landed on her back.

She reared up with a surprised snarl, jumping to her feet with claws extended, only to freeze as a familiar, unique chuffing sound pealed out. Her strange cub was laying on the rock beside her, clutching his stomach and making the strange, hyena-like sound that she had grown to associate with joy. Her cubs and the vixen were all making similar sounds as she forced her fur to lay back flat and her claws to recede.

“I regret teaching you how to prowl.” She said teasingly as she licked down a spot of fur on her paw that always preferred to stick up.

The cub made the joy-noise again. “No you don’t, I’m your best student.”

“And yet you use it against me. If I didn’t know better, I would think you truly were the Vixen’s cub.” She purred and licked a stripe of the cubs fur, it was growing long, almost like a mane now. She would have to ask the lion how to maintain it next time she saw him. Though the creature’s fur was much curlier than the lion. Perhaps the sheep… no, that wasn’t quite right either. The cub’s fur wasn’t nearly as dense. As with most things to do with this cub, his fur was utterly unique. She would ask both and see what worked, she decided as the vixen called for the cubs to join them for a nap.

She licked the strange cub once more. “That was  _ very  _ good. You completely surprised me. We should go into a forested area soon, I would like to teach all of you how to be silent among fallen leaves and branches.”

“That sounds great.” The boy said, teeth bared in a way that she was slowly reminding herself was a show of happiness, rather than aggression. She turned to nuzzle one of her jaguar cubs, who squeaked and batted at her muzzle.

“I know this was your idea.” She said fondly to her most mischievous cub. The jaguar cub had darker fur, would likely be a panther like her father. The cub let out a loud purr, not bothering to deny it and the jaguar was content as she settled to sleep with those she loved. Eventually, they would have to leave this peaceful glen and return to civilized society. She knew both her home and the vixen’s were waiting, being well maintained by friends as the two mothers and their cubs worked through their grief. It was common for animals to grieve through a period of partial isolation. The jaguar hadn’t been thinking about tradition at the time though, she had just known that she couldn’t stay in that house and be reminded of what she had lost every day. She hadn’t thought that she would like it so much though. Nothing to do but watch the cubs play, train them in their natural talents, eat, and sleep. It was peaceful. Still, she could feel it. It had been over a year since her love had died, almost a year since their new cub had joined. She wanted to teach her cubs to have friends beyond their siblings, wanted them to learn crafts. She knew that the Vixen wanted it as well. They’d stayed longer than expected, partially because of the odd cub. At first, he'd been ill (and for a while afterwards, his senses were so bad it had taken them a while to realize that he was all healed) and they worried he would be unable to make the long trip. Then, they worried that he would be taken away from them. Now, she was worried what would happen if the other creatures discovered him. A tail brushed her nose and she started before catching the fox’s calm, understanding eyes. The fox deliberately closed her eyes and with a huff, the jaguar did the same.

Unable to sleep, Angus was trying his very hardest not to think. Well, that wasn’t fair. As a very smart little boy, Angus loved to think, and often had very intelligent thoughts. Those thoughts now tended to be more focused on how to use the bend of grass and the scrape of leaves to track someone through the forest, rather than the history lessons or geometry classes he used to think about, but he was excelling at the former just as he used to excel at the latter.

No, he was trying to avoid thinking about specific things. Mainly he was trying to avoid thinking about how one stupid mistake he made while being bragging had made it so that he was trapped on another planet with absolutely no way to go home. Well, maybe two mistakes. The first mistake had been sneaking onto the ship, the second mistake had been sneaking off.

Three mistakes. The third mistake was falling off of the cliff.

He'd somehow survived the fall, he’d even survived the rapid, swirling waters that carried him miles away from the ship. He’d gripped a floating log that, kept him above water even while it carried him horrifyingly far away. After what could have been moments, hors, or days it had crashed against a beaver dam and he was able to crawl to the beach, exhausted, soaking wet, and shivering as the first flakes of a snowstorm formed and fell. 

He’d gotten ill that night, his body too exhausted and preoccupied with keeping him breathing and from freezing to fight off the planet’s unfamiliar germs. At least, that was what Angus assumed. It was several weeks before he was coherent again, and when he was, he had been horrified to see a huge jungle cat curled around him and watching him with steady, bright eyes.

He could still remember the terror, the way he had screamed so loud that it had made the jaguar crouch and hiss, ears pulling back. The movement had seemed aggressive to him, and he’d frozen, laying on a cave floor and covered with an animal pelt. He froze like prey, but as a very little boy, who had no hope with fight or flight, freeze was his only option.

The large cat had made a rumbling sound (which he now recognized as it’s purr) and had opened its mouth (likely to give him a comforting lick). In that moment, Angus had found the strength needed to move, finally, scrambling away as best his exhausted limbs could move. The leopard had followed him, ears pulled back and chittering constantly.

A fox had bounded in at that moment, making a similar chittering and the leopard stopped, making an expression that almost seemed like a pout before pulling away from Angus. The boy had sighed in relief, even as the loss of warmth made him shiver. Then the fox had neared and once again he’d frozen. The fox, while still a wild animal, had been at least much smaller than the jaguar, and was careful to keep her mouth closed to hide her sharp teeth. 

The clever fox had been careful to approach the strange cub as nonthreateningly as possible, head lowered, ears perked, tail wagging back and forth in slow, comforting sweeps. Angus had never owned a dog, but he’d seen them, and occasionally got the chance to play with one at the park or at someone’s house. He'd at least had interacted with them enough for the fox’s movements and actions to be familiar. It had comforted him enough for Angus to finally take stock of his surroundings. He'd woken in a cave, though he couldn’t see the size of it as the only light came from the grave entrance, and a crack in the far ceiling. Only a small portion of the cave was illuminated, the rest of it was hidden in shadows. The bits of the cave that he could see had been dimly fuzzy, his glasses long lost. Angus had shivered, which had led to a hacking, wet sounding cough. Immediately the fox had moved, bounding over to a small bowl that had a strange lip on it that the animal was able to bite on to carry the bowl. Angus had flinched when the animal neared, but was thirsty enough that he didn’t hesitate to grab the bowl and down it in large gulps as his body shook from the effort of coughing so hard.

The fox had stood on it’s hind legs and had put it’s front legs on Angus’s shoulders. Too overwhelmed, physically weak, and afraid to disobey, the boy had laid down and was quickly swallowed by sleep.

The next time he awoke it had been even darker, nighttime presumably, and he was covered in warm, heavy, breathing fur. Terrified, the boy had attempted to pull himself out from beneath the pile of sleeping animals, but he’d barely moved before a large paw, the jaguar’s, had moved to his chest, pinning him to the floor. There had been no aggression in the movement, no pinprick of claws, no growl or roar, but the terrified child had gotten the message well enough. He'd losed his eyes around a sob and fell back asleep.

It didn’t take long for Angus to realize that the animals meant him no harm. It took even less time for him to realize that they were much smarter than animals on his world. While he was sick he'd been almost entirely confined to the cave, only leaving when he had to relieve himself or throw up. They'd brought him bowls of water or fruits, keeping him warm when he shivered and padding his face with water when his fever was raging. The fox kits and jaguar cubs were adorable, bounding over each other, play wrestling with one another. They'd seemed wary of him at first, as he was wary of them, but eventually one of the braver fox kits approached him and on instinct he'd pet it. Apparently they liked it, and for the next several nights there were fights over who would get to be on his lap.

Eventually, he'd started to realize that their strange chattering was actually talking, and as a bright boy, a child with a still-developing language center, and as someone who had no choice, he'd picked it up with surprising speed. He understood the language long before he could confidentially speak it, his human tongue found it difficult to make many of the sounds, but eventually he managed it well enough that he could make himself known.

Between the illness, the initial terror at his situation, and the latter amazement and desire to learn the language, he hadn't noticed the time that had passed until one day he left the cave to relieve himself and realized that while the leaves had been falling when he’d snuck off the ship, now the world was filled with the last of melting snow as buds and flowers started to populate the trees.

Immediately he’d dropped to his knees and sobbed. The seven animals that had been living with had immediately moved, attempting to comfort him and ask what was wrong. He couldn’t be comforted though, everything he knew was… it was gone. The IPRE mission was only supposed to be for two months. They had been on the ship for over a week, and had been landed for several days before he’d snuck out. Giving them about a week to return, that meant that they would have stayed on the planet  _ at most  _ 5 weeks. It had been a whole  _ season _ , perhaps more. He could easily count 5 weeks’ worth of days he’d been  _ awake. _ It was… it was too late. He was too late.

A tiny fox kit head had forced itself under his hand while a jaguar cub kneaded at his leg. Shaking, he had turned to the hovering jaguar and clung to the warm, comforting body, throwing one arm around the fox as she'd whimpered in his ear. He'd struggled with the realization that this… this was his life now. His hands had shook. Eventually, exhausted by his tears, fear, and sorrow, he'd fallen asleep in the jaguar’s grasp.

Now, several long months later, Angus lay awake surrounded by sleeping animals and struggled to keep the tears from returning. Usually he could distract himself, not today it seemed. He’d promised himself when he awoke from that realization, that he would do what he could to survive in this strange world, and truthfully it… well, it wasn’t hard. The vixen and the jaguar were kind and caring and friendly, and the cubs enjoyed him in a way that his classmates hadn’t. There was no school, but he was learning every moment. Life was a bit more… well, wild, than before but he found that he enjoyed the adventure. He was homesick, and wondered if his parents were worried- even if he didn’t know them well, he did know that they cared in their own way-, if his classmates had admitted where he was when he never returned, but for the most part he was ok. Still, every once in a while he got like this, not upset persay, just… sad. A sound drew Angus’ attention, and the boy looked down to see one of the fox kits kicking and growling in his sleep. The boy chuckled. For the most part, he was ok. Actually, for the most part he was… pretty happy.

* * *

The fox woke to see the jaguar sitting on the far edge of their napping rock, nose to the north and a faraway look to her eyes.

“It’s time, isn’t it?” She asked softly, making the feline jump. However, instead of answering, the spotted cat simply said.

“This was one of the seasons’ last warm days. Winter will be here soon.” There were several beats of silence. “I don’t want to.”

“But it is time.” The fox repeated sadly.

The jaguar sighed heavily. “I know. We should tell them tonight, after dinner.”

The fox hummed in agreement, looking longingly at the lovely glen they would soon leave. It was time to return to civilization, much as they all might want to stay. They needed to return, for the cubs. They needed to experience the real world, not this isolation they had spent nearly a year in.

“What will we tell  _ him _ ?” The jaguar asked the clever fox, worried about what would occur when they told their strange cub that the others of his kind were still there. Would he want to find them? Would he be afraid of them as the fox feared? Would he be afraid but feel he must return?

“The truth.” The fox said heavily, regretfully. As soon as another animal saw him, they would ask about it. They had to tell him the truth before someone else did, but… “It doesn’t have to be now though.”

“Soon, though.”

“Soon.”

And Angus, who still had not managed to fall asleep, felt his heart grow cold as he wondered what they were hiding.

* * *

Angus was practically jumping as they made their way out of the valley, the rest of the cubs following with varying levels of enthusiasm as the jaguar made a path for them through the brush. This was  _ amazing.  _ He knew that the animals were fully sentient beings here, but the thought of whole civilizations, cities and villages made of every type of animal living together in peace, he couldn’t wait to see it. He would see commerce, homes, products, all created by and designed for animals like the bowls and the pelt he wore. He wondered if there were any animals that wore glasses. 

There would be new foods, new friends to meet, music, even  _ schools _ . He couldn’t wait to see it. The vixen let out an amused bark as she watched the cub, so different from her youngest who’s head was down and ears flat, still sad at moving from their home. They had been travelling for several days now and each of them, including the strange cub, were growing tired. However, the fox's crow friend had met them the day before and predicted that they should start seeing the nearest town today, which had brought a bit of spirit back to most of the group. It also meant that they would need to speak with Angus soon, tell him about the others but… that could wait until lunch.

Suddenly the cub gasped, “What’s that?”

The fox’s heart dropped, worried that they were closer than she had thought and that somehow the cub with the worst eyes had spotted the chimp tower in the near town first. But no, the cub was facing the wrong way. She turned and gasped, fear running through her as black leached across the sky, hiding the light. Rays seemed to shoot from the dark mass, and the earth shook when they impacted.

“Run!” She shrieked, and they all turned, sprinting away from the mass that seemed to be growing larger and getting closer. The odd cub was slower than his siblings, and though he’d spent nearly a year learning how to run through the wild, he soon found himself falling behind. The two adult animals fell back, uncertain how to help him to go faster. Soon it didn’t matter. A ray of black struck close, and from the impact stepped the black silhouette of a dragon, which roared in fury. The jaguar wasted no time, rushing the beast and sinking sharp claws into it’s neck, the fox was close behind, nipping at it’s heels and aiming for the Achilles tendon.

“Run!” The jaguar commanded. “RUN!” Before crying out in wet pain as the monster landed a blow. 

Angus obeyed, sprinting through the woods only to freeze at a familiar sound he'd never thought he’d hear again; the Star-Blaster. He looked up with a gasp as the darkness grew, seeing the majestic ship aiming for the small bit of sky that wasn’t surrounded by a black mass 

“Wait!” He yelled, too terrified to think about how they wouldn’t be able to hear him. “No, wait  _ please, _ ” he sobbed, too horrified and afraid to do anything more than chase impotently after the disappearing ship until a beam of black landed mere feet from him. From this darkness, the first humanoid figure Angus had seen in a year emerged. Then, it ran him through with a sword.

* * *

The IPRE crew blinked confusedly, hearts beating wildly in their chests as they struggled to comprehend what had just happened. They were all strapped into their seats on the Starblaster. Magnus had a black eye again, they were wearing the clothes from takeoff. The animal kingdom was destroyed, consumed in a furious explosion of colors within an ominous black force that was following them and they..they… it was like time had reset, in some weird ‘Groundhog Day’ esque trope, they had gone back to the beginning. But… but they had almost died, hadn’t they? Magnus  _ had  _ died. There was some… some thing that had destroyed two worlds. What was it? How had any of this happened? What-?

The stunned moment of silence that had reigned for far too long on the Star-Blaster dock was suddenly broken by a loud, frantic pounding on the door that separated the bridge from the rest of the ship. The team shared a silent glance, hackles raised. Magnus grabbed a weapon, Lup, Taako, Davenport, and Barry grabbed their magic foci, Merle clutched his bible. Lucrecia, who was not… fighting inclined, did what she always did, writing each movement with terrified care. As one, the rest of the team moved towards the door as the pounding increased in fervor.

Magnus held up three fingers… two… one. He burst open the door, and each person raised their weapons, prepared to destroy whatever piece of the monster had somehow made it on their ship. They froze when the door revealed nothing but a small human boy scrambling back away from the 6 fearsome combatants.

“I-I-I’m sorry.” The child sobbed. “I’m sorry, I- I- told my friends that I could sneak onto the ship and I did, but then I fell asleep and I couldn’t get off and then you were flying and I kept hidden, b-but then you landed, and I-I-I only meant to be gone for a few hours, but there was a wolf and I fell off of a cliff and there was a jaguar and a fox and I thought you were gone but then there was this darkness and I think I died but now I’m here and  _ I just want to go home!”  _ He was all out sobbing at the end, virtually incomprehensible.

With hesitant, trembling hands the IPRE lowered their weapons. Even Lucrecia paused her writing to look on at the scene with wide, horrified eyes.

Mangus was the first to speak. “Well… dunk.”


	12. The Stolen Century Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I hope you enjoy out look into some of the worlds within the Stolen Century, with Ango finally joining the gang!!  
> So, I don't intend to make up any planets really, all of my Stolen Century moments will be centered on the same planets as the podcast. 
> 
> Thank you again to all of my reviewers! I had fun coming up with Angus-tasks for all of the planets and I hope you enjoy what I came up with!!

For a moment Angus just stood sheepishly sniffling, tears still streaming down his young cheeks, as a continuous stream of various curses flowed over his head. The twin elves were… especially creative. The quill pen had dropped from the hand of the archivist, and had yet to be picked up. The gnome was yelling questions over the rest of the shouting, but Angus couldn't parse it through the rest of the noise. 

The boy took a step back, flinching against the noise after so many months in his peaceful glen with only the light chittering of his makeshift family. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to reveal himself, he was just so  _ scared _ . 

Suddenly one of the adults, a slightly portly man in denim pants, broke out of the cluster near the doorway. He knelt in front of Angus, his frame blocking sight of the others even as their curses and yelling didn't falter. "Hey, uh, hey Pal, what-uh- what are you doing here? Like, I heard that whole spiel a second ago, but uh, care to fill in the blanks maybe?" 

Angus sniffed. The man held himself stiffly, uncertainty and awkwardness emanating from him in a way that was strangely comforting. "My name is Angus McDonald, of the McDonald family. I'm 10 years old and I'm a student at St.Fancysons Academy. I-I was just trying to impress some kids from school. I-I snuck in the night after the press conference a-and I was just supposed to get proof that I was on the ship and leave, but a guard came in so I hid in the closet. But they wouldn't  _ leave _ and I fell asleep. Then-then I woke up and the ship was flying and I just didn't want to get in trouble. I'm good at hiding, I thought I could just-just wait, but-" he sniffed harshly rubbing below his eyes. All of the shouting from the others had stopped, and the scribe was scribbling what he said down with a shaking hand.

"But I snuck out, and there was a wolf, and I fell into a river. Then there was a fox and a leopard and their babies, but they were nice. And they could  _ talk _ , kinda. I thought I was trapped then-then these dark things attacked and I thought I died but now I'm here." Suddenly he gasped, horror striking through him as he remembered his last moments. "Mrs. Fox and Mrs. panther! Are they ok? They-they were fighting the thing! Did they get transported to safety too?" 

The adults all shared stricken, horrified looks, and Angus suddenly realized he didn't want to hear the answer. Not out loud. He already knew. 

He wished he didn't. Sniffling, eyes straining from tears still streaming, he tried a different track, before they could say it and make it true. 

"Pl-please, I'm sorry for sneaking on, I know it was really naughty but I just want to go home. My parents are going to be worried."

The human man winced in front of him, and shot a look back at the now deathly silent crew behind him. "Oh, wow, uh, wow Pal, that's - uh, that's just-" 

Suddenly, the twin elves let out matching expletives. The burly fighter stepped around the jean-wearing man and pulled Angus into muscular arms. Angus melted into the comforting hold as one of the elves loudly proclaimed that they were moving this to the kitchen, where things made sense. 

The male elf leaned around the fighter holding Angus to ruffle his hair. "No offense pumpkin, but you look like a man in desperate need of chocolate." 

Angus chanced a small smile in response. "I'll only take offense if you said that without having anything to fix it." He sassed, and the elf laughed, sounding delighted. The twins shared a grin. 

The child burrowed into the burly man's arms and let himself be carried into the kitchen and placed into one of the tall stools. The gnome, the Captain Angus belatedly remembered, claimed into the seat next to him and began to ask gentle, probing questions that Angus did his best to answer. His eyes darted around the small area as his stomach grumbled at delicious smells. He could tell something wasn't right. They were keeping something from him. 

The scribe continued to write, her eyes wide. The dwarf had elected to sit as far from Angus as possible at the long table, seeming uncomfortable, but not in a personal way. More of an inexperienced-with-children way. A lot of his parent's friends were like that. The strong human was in the seat next to Angus, and the Jean guy was across from him. The elves were a flurry of movement in the kitchen until they set a bowl of soup in front of everyone. The male pressed a mug of hot coco into Angus's hand, claiming that their secret recipe was so good, it was better than- the Jean guy interrupted him. The elf's ears dropped back before he finished the sentence with 'its better than, uh, something we can't tell you about till you're older, but trust me, it's awesome and this is even better'. 

Angus didn't have the heart to tell the elf that he knew all about kissing and holding hands. 

The hot coco was very good. 

The boy waited for a lul in his interrogation, and it came as everyone took a bite of the meal. "Can I, um, I'm sorry but can I ask some questions please." 

"Of course." The gnome quickly answered. 

"I-Im sorry but I wasn't paying as much attention at the press conference as I should have. I forgot all of your names." 

They introduced themselves with varying levels of enthusiasm before giving the child a moment to collect his thoughts. "What- what  _ happened _ ?" He asked next. "What was that dark stuff, I really thought it killed me. How did I end up back in the closet? I don't think it was just a bad dream." Suddenly, the fighter, Magnus, and the dwarf, Merle, perked up.

"Hey, you know, that's a really good question Ango."

The boys face scrunched at the nickname. "Oh, are we doing this then?" He asked flatly at the nickname. 

"Yup!" Magnus answered immediately before turning to Davenport. "What do you say, Cap? What happened?" 

Lup was the one to answer. "It's almost like time… reset to the day we left our home planet. Our bodies all reset to that day, Angus was back in the closet." 

"Magnus is alive." Merle added. "C'mon buddy, the kid can be wishy washy about whether he died or not all he wants, I saw you die with my own eyes. Let me tell ya, zombie flics aren't my thing." 

"I'm not a zombie!" Magnus protested. Then, he paused. "I don't think I'm a zombie. Do zombies know that they're zombies? Ango, do I look like a zombie?" 

The child frowned. "I don't think I would be the best witness to ask, sir. After all, if you became a zombie, then so did I and if zombies can't know they're zombies, then I wouldn't know you were one either." 

The man looked stricken. "No one else is saying anything. Oh no, we're ZOMBIES." 

That was… actually kinda cool. 

"You're NOT zombies." Davenport interrupted, and Angus had to fight back a pout. It wasn't polite or mature to pout, even if zombies were cool. 

Besides, Angus's mind was stuck on one thing. "I-if time reset to the day you left, I might be able to get back in time not to get in  _ too _ much trouble. I'm sorry to bother you, and I don't want to hurt the mission, but could you drop me off at home first, please?" 

The room was silent once more. No one dared to speak. Finally, the scribe looked up in the awkward silence. She nodded once, and looked at Angus with unfathomably sad eyes. She flipped to near the beginning of her notebook. "You need to know, I'll tell you." She paused a moment, then added a genuinely distressed "I am so very sorry." 

Angus no longer wanted to hear what she had to say, but he didn't have the time to stop her. She started reading. 

Angus didn't remember much of that second year. It was a haze of fear, of grief, of incredulity. Everything he knew was gone.  _ Everyone  _ he knew was gone. He was along, but for these seven strangers whose ship he'd been a stowaway on. He was sad and scared. 

But, time passed. It had to, there was no stopping it. 

The boy was lucky that no one had been mad when they’d found out he’d stowed away. Well, Davenport hadn’t been happy, but Angus got the impression that he was more upset with the hired security guards than with him. Overall, as the years went and reset, they were exceedingly kind to him. That could, however, have been an effect of his reaction when they told him that their home, their loved ones, their everything, had been destroyed. He had… well, he’d reacted about as well as one could expect a 10 year old to react. 

He still… he still felt sad sometimes. Mostly he felt guilty. As much as he was saddened by the loss of his parents and others he knew, he didn’t miss that… life as much. (Sometimes, he thought that he missed Mrs. Fox and Mrs. Jaguar more than his parents. He missed his animal siblings more than his people cousins. That made him feel… worse, but it didn't stop it from being true.) Exploring the different worlds was so much fun, and he was learning much more than he ever had in that boring boarding school where he was in a class several grades above others his age. And he loved the team. He loved that they were there all the time, and he didn’t just see them on holidays and breaks like his parents. 

He’d read a psychology book once, as supplemental reading for a class, that said that children tended to be better at adapting to new situations than adults. It might effect them worse in the long run, but for the here and now they were more… flexible. Sometimes he worried that he was adapting  _ too  _ easily. He tried not to focus on that though. Tried not to think about Mom and Dad. Tried not to think about the Jaguar and the Fox. Tried not to think about the new friends he made only to lose. He tried to think ahead, to the people and world's of the future. After all, the others were adjusting pretty well too. 

They didn't have much of a choice. 

* * *

Angus scowled as Magnus picked up his two flame throwers, his backpack and mask firmly fastened. Barry, Lup, Lucretia, and Davenport stood nearby, though only the gnome held a flamethrower of his own. Lup’s evocation magic was better than the best machine, and Lucretia's hands were busy writing and sketching far too much to hold the weapon. 

Taako crouched down to be eye level with the child. “Hey, buck up little man. You don’t want to send them with a grumpy-gus face.” He poked the child in the cheek and Angus sighed grumpily. 

“I don’t want to send them off at all. I wanted to go with them.” 

“I know pumpkin, it’s the worst to be left with Merle, I feel ya man. Trust me, I do. They’re just feeling a tidge overprotective since you died last cycle.” 

“That wasn’t my fault!” Angus protested. “Billi and Tilli said that people had been daring each other to go into that haunted house for  _ years _ . I just wanted to see if I could actually find the ghost.” 

“And instead you became a ghost.” Merle muttered before handing one of his homemade tracts to a halfling. 

Angus frowned. “Did I really? I don’t remember the ghost part.” 

“Did you- No!” Taako shook his head with a snort. “No ghosting, it’s a  _ phrase  _ Agnes. Now get over there, before Lup kicks your butt for not saying goodbye.” 

“Ok, sir.” Angus scrambled away. He still was being stuck on the ship instead of getting to go on the grand quest for the light, but he was in a much better mood about it. They were currently on their 6th year as a whole team, 7th since they left home, and last year  _ had  _ been the first time he’d died since the Hunger had gotten him on the Animal Kingdom. It had been so quick for him that it hadn’t impacted him as much as it had the others who’d had to live out the rest of the year. He’d just been investigating the house, heard a creak above him, and looked up to see a huge dark mass (apparently the ceiling) falling toward him, and woke up in his closet. He hadn’t even felt any pain, so it was sometimes easy to forget why everyone had been treating him so oddly this cycle. 

He scrambled around the townspeople and jumped to give Magnus a hug. It was a bit difficult with the flamethrowers, but the man laughed with a wide grin. Angus gave hugs to the rest of the group and requested they be safe. Still, he watched them go wistfully, and wandered around the town a bit rather than return to the ship right away. 

He was bored, especially since he declined Merle’s offer to be an altar boy. He wasn't very good at being bored, always wanting to be active. There didn't seem to be much he could do in Fungston though. He could help Taako with the decoy, but until the others returned with the real light, they couldn’t do much. And once Lup and Barry got back, the three of them would likely be discussing magics that went far over his head. 

The boy hummed to himself as he looked around. This was a part of Fungston he hadn’t visited yet, which was surprising considering the whole of the town was inside a set circle of bonfires. There were a couple of small shops and gardens in the area, along with some larger buildings. Most of the humanoids around were young adults, and Angus got the impression that he had wandered into some kind of school district. That was kind of interesting. 

He wandered around, peeking into doorways and areas, until coming to what looked like a science lab. He’d grown familiar with science labs from his time on the Starblaster, and while this one was a bit more primitive than the pristine ones on the ship, it seemed fully functioning and well used. 

The boy wandered around the lab with wide eyes until a young gnome popped up from behind one of the tables. The woman’s mouth dropped open behind her mask in surprise. “Who are you?” She demanded. “You aren’t supposed to be here.” 

“Oh, uh, sorry ma’am.” He apologized. “I- I was just looking around the area, I didn’t mean to interrupt your science.” 

Her eyes narrowed. “You’re one of those from the spaceship, right?” 

“I am! How did you know?” 

She shrugged, but no longer seemed as upset that the boy was in her space. Somehow, being from a different planet opened a lot of doors. “Well, you’re obviously not a gnome, a halfling, or a dwarf, and that’s all we have around here.” She pulled off one of her heavy gloves and offered a hand to the boy to shake. “Febni, nice to meet you.” 

“Hi, I’m Angus McDonald. I like your lab!” 

“Well, it’s no spaceship, but I do what I can. C’mere, I don’t have ton of people around here interested in this who aren’t my professors. I want to show you what I’m working on.” 

Angus scrambled over, but couldn’t resist adding, “You might have more people interested if you didn’t yell at them for being in the lab. Just, you know, personal opinion.” 

The gnome let out a loud bark of laughter. “Alright, guess that’s not a bad point.” She admitted, before dragging him over to a pile of dark dust. “Here, I’m trying to create a more flammable substance. I’d like to make something that we can kinda, lay some out so that people don’t have to go out with their flame-throwers every day and fight off the fungus. Or something that we can use to clear out a bigger area so that it isn’t as much of a threat. We use gasses in the flamethrowers, but I want something we can just like, lay down somewhere. That’s why I’m trying to use solid minerals instead.”

“That’s incredible.” The boy said with wide eyes.

She shrugged, moving to a box at the end of the table and rummaging through it. “It will be if I can ever get it to work.” She handed Angus a pair of large goggles. She carefully put on a similar pair, making sure that they fit comfortably against her face mask. The boy copied her motions as exactly as possible, not wanting to accidentally move the mask much. Luckily, the goggles were large enough to cover his glasses. 

“You want to see what I have so far?” 

Angus nodded vehemently, both to show his interest and to feel how it felt to wear both the goggles and the mask. She took a small striker and squeezed the handle a few times to watch it create sparks. Then, she placed the striker in the middle of the pile of dark material and pulled the stiker again. Immediately, the compounds began sizzling and popping, sending a shower of very pretty sparks into the air in a gorgeous display. Unfortunately, they didn’t seem to be creating any actual fire, and fizzled out too quickly to reliably set anything else aflame. 

“Hmmm…” Angus said. “Well, you could put on a pretty wicked show with that, but I don’t know that it would serve your purpose.” 

“Nah. It was enough to get me a good grade, and to convince the school to continue the research, but…” She shrugged and pulled off her goggles. “It’s still a work in progress.”

“Huh. Well it’s really cool!” 

She grinned. “Thanks! A lot of my colleagues are focused on the masks and making air filters, but I just like making things explode. Figure this way I can get paid for it and do something useful.” 

“Remind me to introduce you to Lup when she gets back.” Angus said with a grin. 

“Will do.” She grinned back. Angus noticed piles of notebooks and asked if he could read through some of them and she agreed readily. “So are you like, interested in science, then?” 

He hummed non-committedly. “Not especially, but you don’t stay on the Starblaster long and not be at least kinda interested in it. I like research a lot though, and reading. I like detective stories most. I want to be a detective when I grow up!” If I grow up. He might just stay 10 forever. 

“That sounds cool.” She hummed, to a pile of different kinds of rock and looking at them under a magnifying glass. “Well, if you ever want to research rocks, you’re welcome here. I’m pretty much the only one in the lab these days.” 

“Thanks!” Angus stuck around the lab a few more hours, reading through the notes. He’d had to ask several questions, about science terms, phrases, and conclusions that confused him because he didn’t have the background knowledge. Febni didn’t seem to mind though, answering his million questions with good humor and the kind of patience that felt like she was enjoying herself rather than just tolerating him. 

It was fairly late when he got back to the ship. Merle was plinking away on a small piano trying to remember some old hymns. The dwarf wasn’t a bard, but he wasn’t bad either. He at least knew enough to do the well-known songs. 

Taako had taken up the living room with crafting supplies, strips of paper and bowls of what looked like a failed attempt of paper mache glue, if the drooping structures were any indication. The elf had apparently given up and was sequestered in the kitchen at the moment. “Hey Agnes, thought you mighta tried stowaway round two and snuck on the expedition.” 

“Nope, I made a friend! She’s a scientist trying to make explosive or flammable power to fight the spores.”

The elf snorted. “Kay, we’ll have to introduce her to Lup.” 

“That’s what I said!” Angus said. 

“‘Course ya did kid, now come on. Make yourself useful and grate some cheese.” 

Angus grinned and skirted around the aisle to stand on his step stool. “How come you never ask Merle to make himself useful?” 

“Look kid, I’m a Wizard, not a miracle worker.” 

“I heard that!” 

Angus laughed and helped to grate the cheese. He loved his strange family. 

The next morning he rummaged through one of the many bookshelves boasting a plethora of textbooks and research books, pulling out anything that was related to minerals, explosives, ect. He also grabbed what Lup affectionately called her big-dictionary-of-science-terms-to-make-anyone-sound-smarter, and a spare microscope before heading out to Febni’s lab. He spent the majority of his year like that. As he’d said, he didn’t have much of a passion for science, but he enjoyed research. The elements on Fungston and Angus’s home planet weren’t entirely identical, but Febni showed him a special new way to take notes and get the most information in the quickest time, and they used that to carefully mark the compounds of the most flammable elements in the hopes of finding similar features in the local geology. 

Lup was just as eager to meet the gnome as Taako and Angus had thought, and she spent a while helping them when she wasn’t helping Taako hand-carve dozens of bioluminescent fungi to create his forgery.

“Look at this Mickey-Dee, if we add some of this it could make the flames twice as high!” 

“That’s amazing, Ma’am, if my notes are correct, it will make the flames purple too. I don’t think it’ll make it much hotter though.”

“You gotta have some style there, boy-o.” 

Febni snorted as she accepted the material from Lup. “Yo, Angus, does anyone in your family call you your actual name?” 

“Davenport does!” 

“It’s ‘cause we stole all the good nicknames.” Lup claimed and the gnome laughed. 

They worked throughout the year, and ended up with several decently functioning prototypes. While Febni had no intention to stop experimenting, they could start laying down the groundwork for their first versions. The day that the Hunger came, Angus made sure that the scientist was attending Merle’s church service, the safest structure in the area, and gave her a hug for good measure. He was getting used to saying goodbye by now. The Hunger rocked the ship and Angus closed his eyes. When he opened them again he was back in the supply closet. 

* * *

Angus carefully stepped around a pile of rubble beside an iron-wrought bench as he looked around the 17th Cycle. There was a basin ahead, and Angus could see in his mind’s eye the park that this place had been before… well before. The basin would have been the pool of a fountain, the crumbled rubble a statue. The moss-overgrown bench would have had a fantastic view of both the fountain and the, presumably well manicured, trees beyond. Now however, nothing remained of the previous civilization beyond the ruins. The land had been almost completely overrun by moss and wild trees and greenery. 

There were no people though. In fact, they hadn’t even seen animals. If Templeton hadn’t died a few cycles back, Angus would have been tempted to see the rat’s reaction to this empty world. 

The boy shook himself from his thoughts and carefully skirted around the basin, feeling pieces of moss as he wandered. 

Taako and Lup had planned to make their campfire chili and roasted marshmallows for dinner, in hopes that a campout may boost their spirits, and he was tasked with finding moss to use as kindling. He’d assumed at first that it would be an easy thing, but apparently rain had passed through recently, because it was all too damp for a proper fire. They needed the boost too, the Light had fallen on the absolutely opposite side of the world from where they had originally landed, and Lup and Barry had been working day and night to locate it to no success. 

At breakfast, Barry had announced that they had all but given up. They had exercised every option they had and came up blank. Lup had looked furious, biting into her cinnamon roll with a fury that the pastry was completely undeserving of. 

Taako had determined then and there that a relaxing camp out was needed. Angus and Merle had agreed readily, understanding the value of not burning oneself out. Magnus took a bit of convincing, but since they hadn’t yet seen any people for him to protect, it wasn’t hard to bring him to their side. As always, once Magnus was in, he was the most enthusiastic of the group, even after Barry and Lup started to perk up.

When they had discovered a beautiful, advanced-seeming tiered city, the group had argued Davenport down from landing. The gnome had insisted on a quick fly-over, but as with the rest of the planet, the sensors hadn’t picked up any signs of life, so instead they touched down in the middle of a once-park just outside the city. 

A park where there didn’t seem to be  _ any  _ dry moss. Angus scowled to himself, ducking under a teeter-totter that was so overgrown with vines that it wouldn’t budge. He perked when he saw a couple clumps of moss clutching the bottom of the toy, kept safe from the rain and therefore suitably dry. 

Collecting the moss into a basket, he ran around to the other ‘up’ side of the teeter totter, which was of course on the opposite side of the toy. He rounded the side when one of his feet hit a slick spot and he fell. Luckily, the ground was mostly moss so he had a soft landing, fine other than a slightly jarred elbow. 

He rubbed the pained arm with a grimace as he looked back at where he had tripped. The boy squinted. The ground had used to be some sort of concrete or rubber, and had been covered by moss and bits of grass. However, there was a small patch of ground where the vegetation had been scraped away, leaving a muddy, bare, quarter-circle in its place. In front of the bare patch was the door to a small maintenance shed. It looked exactly like…

Abandoning his moss, the child ran to where the rest of the group was setting up camp with wide eyes. 

“Hey Ango, where’s the moss?” Magnus asked, stubbornly trying to set a fire while being surrounded by magic users who could do it in an instant. 

“Did you forget to grab like, the one thing we sent you out looking for?” Taako laughed. 

Merle gave a chuckle. “Don’t worry Angus, I do that every time I go to the grocery store.” 

“Same here.” Lucretia added. “Even when I have a list.”

“No, that’s not- I mean I guess I did but- did- did any of you guys go to the playground that’s in that direction?” 

Lucretia flipped back a few pages in the notebook she had been writing in. “I’m pretty sure you’re the only one who went in that direction at all.”

Lup looked up from where she was watching Magnus fail with the fire, her wicked smile fading as she met the boy’s eyes. “What’s up Mickey-Dee? You’re looking kinda spooked.” 

“I have something to show you.” 

He led the group back to the park, showing him the patch of ground proudly. “Look! The moss has been scraped away, this bare patch is the exact width of the door, and it goes until it’s about perpendicular to the hinge. And you can see all this bunched up moss on the other side. Someone had  _ opened  _ this door, and they did it recently enough that the moss hasn’t had time to regrow. In fact, for the circle to be this perfect, I would say they were here less than a month ago.”

The group shared a wide-eyed moment of silence, then suddenly Magnus rushed forward to put him on his shoulders. “Way to go Ango! You detective-ed that real good!” 

“This is amazing, Angus.” Davenport added, a spark in his eye that had been dulling as they failed to find anything. “You found the first sign of life that we’ve seen on this entire planet, and you recognized it so quickly- very impressive my boy!” 

Angus grinned brightly, until Lup asked. 

“So… what’s on the other side of the door?” 

“Oh, uh, I don’t know. I was too excited to tell you about it. I didn’t actually look inside yet.” 

“Well, let’s go!” Taako yelled, and opened the door immediately as Magnus scrambled for a weapon. Angus yelped- as he was still on the fighter’s shoulders- but wasn’t jared from his position. It turned out Magnus’s scrambling amounted to nothing though, as the door opened to reveal nothing but an empty room full of dusty tools, playground equipment, and signs. 

“Well, that’s disappointing.” Lup said. 

Merle coughed as dust billowed. “Is this like, one of those things where we find out what books in the library the bad guy read because it’s the only one that isn’t dusty?”

“That’s a great idea, sir!” Angus chirruped, squirming until Magnus let him down. They scoured the area, and found a few spots where the dust had been disturbed, but it seemed random. There was enough to confirm that someone had definitely been there, but not enough to tell them why.

“Alright, okay.” Taako said after they had been searching for a while. “So, this is great and all, and it gives us something to do in the morning, but  _ tonight  _ if we don’t get a fire started soon, we’ll be eating raw chili.” 

“Oh yeah,” Magnus perked. “Ango, make sure to grab that moss.” 

“Don’t bother.” Lup said, picking up Angus’s basket and dumping it out. “I’ll have that fire going in like, 10 seconds.” 

“You- b-but - you let me- I’ve been trying to get that started for  _ half an hour _ !” Magnus said, sounding affronted. Lup laughed and dashed away, Magnus running after her. Angus smiled and shook his head as the others followed more slowly. It wasn’t the light, but they had found evidence of life, and that was  _ something. _

* * *

They didn’t locate the source of the life for several days, though the signs got more and more prevalent as they went closer to the big city. When they finally did find the source, Angus was  _ amazed _ . They were all  _ robots.  _ Every last person.

He listened with rapt attention as Magnus, who had befriended them startlingly quickly, recounted the tale of how they became robots. Apparently, a plague had wiped out every living being on earth, and in order to preserve people’s spirits, some order had discovered a way to put people’s souls into a giant crystal that they could enter and leave at will. When not in the crystal, the people would inhabit the robot bodies. 

Merle and Lucretia chose to record and preserve the history of the robotic people, and they treated Angus to even more stories of interesting history and folklore. Lup and Barry tired for another month or so to find the light, but ultimately gave it up as lost and the twins went scrapping instead. For Angus’s part, he had met with the robot who had opened the door in the park. 

It turned out, it was two souls, a husband and wife, who were sharing the same robotic body. One of them, it was hard for Angus to be sure which when their voices were the same robotic tone, had been going for a walk in one of the lower levels when they had tripped and fallen down a set of stairs. It had banged up their body pretty bad, and dislocated their optic sensors. The soul had managed to drag itself into a building to protect the body from vegetation and rain before returning to the gem, but they weren’t sure where exactly it had ended up. They couldn’t afford another body, and weren’t skilled enough to build a new one from scratch, so when they had time they would go to the lower levels to look for it. 

Angus asked the souls dozens of questions, about the last things they had seen - ruins with moss, not especially helpful-, what they had heard -nothing, also not helpful-, and that they could feel in the room they had ended up in. It took a few weeks, long enough that if they were a person he would probably have been too late, but at last Angus was able to deduce where the robot body was and lead the grateful souls to it. 

In gratitude for finding the body, the souls told Angus about a place in one of the lower tiers that they thought would interest him. They claimed that the concept of ‘value’ had changed a lot once they became robots, but that there was a warehouse that contained things that they had thought as highly valuable when they had been human, and so as a human it might interest him. 

Angus thanked them profusely, and set out to find Lup and Taako. They wanted to go scrapping after all, might as well be somewhere cool. 

He found them quickly enough. He just followed the sound of chaos and destruction. He went towards the sound of rapid-fire explosions to see Lup holding a gun, and Taako bent over laughing. “This is hysterical!” The male elf yelled. “Do it again.” 

“Hello Ma’am! Hello Sir!” Angus shouted, interrupting Lup as she started digging in the pile of rubble in front of her. 

“Hey Micky-Dee, check this out!” She pulled  _ another  _ gun out of the pile and shot it into the sky. “Count the shells!” 

A lout  _ ratatatatatatata  _ filled the air, broken only by the sound of Taako’s raucous laughter. “Um, 50?” Angus answered when the elf had emptied the drum. That only made Taako laugh harder, until he was literally on the ground clutching his stomach. 

Lup started laughing as well. “Holy crap, I didn’t- I didn’t expect you to actually  _ count  _ it. You are an animal, little man.”

Angus shrugged and giggled. Taako and Lup had been scrapping for a few days, bringing back a few interesting knick knacks, but mostly Taako had been bringing back supplies to fix the ship if anything were ever to happen, much to Davenport’s gratitude. Angus wasn’t sure why they hadn’t thought about that before. He told the pair that he’d got a lead about a super cool looting place, and they let him lead the way to a warehouse district. 

Taako hummed skeptically as they started towards a large gated warehouse. “Think you might have been punked, kiddo.”

Angus shook his head, pulling out a set of lockpicks as they neared the gate. “One of the robots lost their body, they broke their optic sensors so they didn’t know where it had ended up. I was able to find it and-” 

“You found it?” Lup asked. “Way to go, boyo. First missing persons case solved!” 

“Yeah, that’s my boy!” Taako crowed. “No more of this ‘wanna be a detective when I grow up’ crap. You are officially a genuine professional.” 

The boy’s smile at that was blinding as pure joy lit up in his heart. That was… that was true! He’d actually done it. He’d solved a real case. “Wow, thank you so much! I-I can’t tell you how much your support means to me and-” 

“Yeah yeah, bla bla bla. Wanna connect the dots for why we’re in a creepy warehouse district?” 

“Oh, okay… Right, so they told me that there is a huge Museum on the top tier, that it is famous for once being the best museum in the continent, but they had so much stuff that they only displayed about a tenth of what they had. The rest of it, they stored in a big warehouse!” 

With that, the last tumbler was deployed and the gate swung open. 

“And here it is!” 

“Where did you learn to pick locks like that, Bubbelah?” Lup asked as the three of them started for the building. 

“You remember, uh three cycles ago? Some rich jerk was displaying the light in his ball room and refused to give it to us, so we teamed up with that group of thieves to steal it?” 

“Ooh, that was a fun one.” Lup said excitedly.

“Well, how do you think Daniel Sea got two different doors open at the exact same time?” 

“That was you? Agnes, we told you to stay on the ship with Lucretia.” 

“I uh, I didn’t listen?” 

“Heck yeah little man, stick it to the man.” 

“Taako, we  _ were _ the man.”

“Oh yeah.” 

Angus snorted as he worked on the lock on the door. “Anyway, this warehouse should have all kinds of stuff. Ancient artifacts, famous gems and jewels, examples of magical advancement through the ages. Some, Land-of-Tomorrow-Today like things. We should be able to find something cool.” 

He got the door unlocked and open and the three of them broke into coughs as dust floated towards them. They left the door open as they ventured in, peeking in boxes and opening crates. They tried on and mocked vintage clothing, played puppets with the mummies and shrunken heads, and pocketed several impressive bits of jewelry. Angus was looking through a box of taxidermied animals when he noticed a large, ornate briefcase. He abandoned his box and made his way over to the case. It was beautiful, leather with an elaborate etching and ornate silver buckles. Unfortunately, it was several feet above his head, sandwiched between several larger crates. 

“What’cha looking at?” Taako asked, meandering over. 

“There’s a really cool case up there.” 

“Hmm.” The wizard looked over the case and seemed to agree, as he performed several impressive bits of magic to both free the case from its crate-prison and bring it down to their level. The elf grabbed the case and Angus took the card off the top. 

“The Royal Cutlery of Grintoria. Historically, this cutlery was passed down to a new monarch at their coronation and used exclusively by the royal family at coronation dinners, weddings, and funerals. Queen Calgrilla IX ended the tradition in 1090 when she sold the silverware to pay off debts after the nation declared bankruptcy. It was a blow to the royal tradition, but many account her willingness to make such hard decisions as the reason why the country remains a major power.” 

Taako whistled lowly, having already opened the case. Angus got on his tippy toes to see inside the box, and breathed out a soft ‘wow’. The silverware was indeed gorgeous, etched and carved in a stunningly intricate display. 

“Dibs.” Taako said, yanking the case back. 

“What? No! I found it first, that means I have automatic dibs.” 

“Yeah, but if I wasn’t here then it would still be stuck in the wall. Therefore, dibs.” 

Angus protested, jumping and trying to grab the case from the elf as he infuriatingly held it above the child’s reach. Angus jumped a few times, but by now this game of keep away was as familiar as it was frustrating. 

“No fair! I keep on resetting right in the middle of my growth spurt.” 

Taako snorted. “Sorry, not sorry.” 

Angus saw a walking cane in a vase a few feet away and grabbed it, hooking the hook of the cane around the handle of the case. 

The elf laughed and the two entered into a small game of tug-of-war. The game only lasted a minute as Lup came up to them with a device from the ‘Magical Achievements' section. “Hey, look at this thing. I think its a sweet magic-detector.” She gave it a few wide swatches across the room, laughing delightedly as it let out a carcoughany of small beeps. 

Taako immediately straightened, dropping the case and looking serious. “Wait, Lu-Lu stop. You’ll drain the battery. We might be able to  _ use  _ this.”

After a few moments of working with it, they were able to determine that there was some sort of  _ huge  _ energy source coming from below them. The device died shortly after they made the discovery, and no amount of kicking it would bring it back online, to Taako’s chagrin. 

They went back to the ship to tell everyone about their discovery. Angus made sure he brought the silverware. 

* * *

After a bit of research they discovered that underground, below the water in the bottom of the gulch there was a whole additional tier called Underton. While there was no reason to think that was where the light was, the team didn’t want to miss the chance to see what exactly the source of the magical energy was. They quickly created a expedition to go to Underton. Surprisingly, no one protested against Angus going, especially as he promised he was up for the dive (his boarding school had had a pool, and swimming lessons had been required for PE credit). Barry, as the only member who  _ couldn’t  _ swim, stayed back with the ship, just in case. 

The magic users cast a spell over the group, allowing them to breathe underwater, and it didn’t take long for them to locate an underwater air pocket. The pocket led them to a chamber door adorned with a wolf howling at a moon shaped like a gear. It was a symbol that Merle and Lucretia recognized from some of the stories that the townspeople had told them. Inside the chamber was a  _ massive  _ glowing blue crystal, several times Angus’s height and width. A burly robot stood in front of the crystal, guarding it. 

The robot, who introduced themselves as Troth, seemed surprised to see them, but wasn’t immediately aggressive. In fact, they seemed to be listening relatively attentively as Magnus started in on the now-familiar spiel about the coming danger of the Hunger. The robot immediately started asking what they could do to fight the hunger off, but the magic users were all too distracted by the crystal to respond. Angus realized belated that this was the very crystal that was used to house the souls of the robots living above, their source of life.

Davenport especially seemed mesmerized by the power, claiming that they couldn’t let the absorb something so very powerful. “ We can’t— I’m sorry, we just can’t—do it, we have to… we have to destroy this thing.” 

Taako perked up at that immediately, and started to the crystal guns-a-blazing. The robot seemed to sense the hostility, grabbing the rebar and twirling it around like a spear. 

Lup hung back. “Taako, this doesn’t, um, this doesn’t feel right. We shouldn’t— we shouldn’t be interfering like this. This would be— we would be… eradicating everybody else on the planet, I don’t— I don’t think that’s right, Taako.”

The elf was unsettled, looking at his sister with flickering ears. “Um— but— okay, but listen: y— that’s happening! It— why am I always the only pragmatist with you people? That’s happening anyway!”

Lup argued back, protesting against just destroying a world because they couldn’t save it, asking whether or not that made them as bad as the Hunger. Magnus argued back, stating that allowing the Hunger to get stronger would make it harder to save other worlds. Angus was shocked that Magnus, Magnus of all people, was  _ for  _ killing the hundreds of people in the world they were currently on, though he didn’t voice his surprise. 

Lup did though, and it left Magnus stuttering and confused as he struggled the choice against the morality code that was central to his very being. 

Lup was ardent in her argument, pointing out that they didn’t know what happened to the worlds that the hunger consumed and that they could only control what they did. She pointed out that they could still win, still defeat the Hunger. They may be able to save it’s victims. If they destroyed the crystal now, they would lose the chance to do that. 

She looked at them all earnestly. “This— this is the point where we get to decide who we are. I refuse to let us be—the type of people who could  _ destroy an entire world _ for any reason. This— this isn’t us! This can’t be how we do this!”

“Lulu,” Taako tried. “I— Lulu, I really want to destroy it though! I— listen. I understand where you’re coming from, for sure, but— I don’t— thi— ugh. It’s called “The Hunger” not the— “The Pocket, Where Things Are Cool” like it’s definitely a bad th— place, right?”

Angus finally spoke up then as he had time to filter through his thoughts. “We can’t murder hundreds of people, that isn’t who we are. We-” 

“Look Ango, no offense, but maybe uh, maybe you should let the adults work through this one.” Magnus said apologetically. 

Lucretia, who had been notably silent, spoke up at that. “Sorry, but this is a big decision, and you’re only 10 years old. You-” 

“I’m 27.” Angus declared, raising up to full height. The room went silent for a beat as the boy took a shuddering breath. “I-I know we don’t like to talk about it, but I’ve been alive for 27 years. I know that there are chemical differences between the mind of a child and an adult, but… almost two thirds of my life has been spent on this mission. I’ve helped track down the Light, I’ve gotten us into places where you couldn’t because I befriended the right kids, I found the signs of life here, I’ve helped. I think I deserve to have a voice in this.” 

There was a moment of awkward silence before they all agreed, Lucretia and Magnus looking sheepish, though everyone likely had the same thoughts. The boy took a deep breath. “We aren’t murderers. We don’t want the Hunger to get stronger. There is another way. If we can use magic to shrink the crystal, we may be able to safely get it off the planet without killing anyone. They might have to stay in the crystal for a while before we find a planet with more robot bodies for them, but they would be alive.” 

“Not a bad idea.” Davenport said with a nod, ruffling Angus’s hair in apology. “Though I’m not sure kidnapping is much better.” 

Merle spoke up then, having been uncharacteristically silent. “I— I have a suggestion. Why don’t we leave it up… to them?” When they agreed, he turned to the robotic guard, who had been listening to the exchange without comment. “We can’t do anything to help ya. Not a single thing. We… maybe you got another week. And you’re gonna be gone, okay? You’re already disembodied spirits. But they’re gonna take your energy, they’re gonna take your spirits, and do horrible, horrible things with ‘em. Is that why you want to hang around? To help evil and help other people get destroyed? Is— is that the big deal, that’s why you wanted to hang out in this crystal?”

Troth seemed reluctant. They pointed out that their people had endured a lot already, and they may be able to endure this as well. They seemed reluctant to doom their home absolutely. Taako promised that if Troth let them take the crystal, that they would work to restore any and all souls in it as soon as they got the opportunity. He pointed out that it was better than staying behind where they were doomed to be consumed. 

Troth seemed to consider that for a moment. “How long do we have to make this decision?”

Merle made a face. “Ehhhh—”

Taako responded. “I got an itchy spell finger, so I wouldn’t linger. You know how usually like, with a business where if you wait too long the offer gets worse? I think this is your— my first offer’s my best offer.” 

The robot agreed to convene with the people of the planet, take about 12 hours to come to a final decision. Angus hoped they did, because if the look of determination on Davenport and some other’s faces meant anything, if they couldn’t agree to let them take the crystal, it would be destroyed. Whether he and Lup agreed with it or not. 

Returning to the uppertiers was creepy, robot bodies scattered everywhere as the souls returned to the crystal for the conference. Angus felt a chill go through him, it was like a ghost town. If things didn’t work out… it would  _ become  _ a ghost town. In an attempt to bring back some levity, Magnus handed Angus a marker and the pair of them went around drawing surprised faces on the unconscious bodies. Magnus added a few mustaches and Angus added some monocles and eyebrows. 

They kept it classy. 

It served as a decent distraction as they waited, and left both of them in absolute stitches when they saw the robot’s reactions to it when they woke up. 

The wait was excruciating, but it ended with relatively good news. They would be allowed to bring the crystal with them. Not everyone agreed to go back into the crystals, but about 100 souls did. The rest agreed to live out the rest of their lives in their robot bodies, okay with dying when their time was up. The remaining week before the Hunger arrived was a scramble. Magnus taught a quick fighting and self defence course, Merle gave last rights, and Lup and Taako went back down to the chamber to shrink the crystal.

In what seemed like no time at all, the Hunger came. They said their goodbyes to those staying behind. Lup gave Troth one of the guns she’d found, and then they were flying away, trying not to look back as the Hunger searched for the light. 

Lup took a deep breath as they flew away, looking them each in the eyes seriously. “Listen. That stuff I was saying down there — that wasn’t just, that wasn’t just talk. I believe that, one of these times, we’re gonna get it right. And we’re gonna find a way to defeat the Hunger and…  _ save  _ everybody inside of it. I— I have to believe that, to keep doing what we do. Because I have to believe,” Her voice faltered with emotion. “That I’m gonna get… those fifteen dollars back from Greg Grimaldis! Seriously, though, it got—  _ we _ got dark down there. I— I know this journey’s been hard, and it’s only going to get harder, but we can’t allow ourselves to— to get to that place again. To even think about destroying an entire world. We need to promise each other, right now, we— we won’t let one another get to that place. Never again.” 

“Deal.” Taako said, one arm around his sister’s shoulder. 

Magnus jumped in immediately. “Yes. Yes.  _ Yes _ .”

Merle hummed. “I— as a— let’s— as a rough guideline, okay.” 

“Absolutely.” Angus added, and the seven of them put their hands into a circle, Davenport still driving. 

The gnome yelled back “I— I’m putting my hand in, too!” 

Angus laughed, smiling as they brought their hands down, then raised them. He blinked and opened his eyes in his closet. Time to start Cycle 18. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I don't normally like to put explanations at the end of the chapter, but I don't want people looking for something that isn't really there explicitly within the fic. I kind of make a big deal about how Angus is acclimating to his unique situation, but how it may negatively impact his development and future. I have some light foreshadowing, but I don't think I will ever explicitly connect it to anything in the story, so I wanted to explain here. 
> 
> Mainly, the thought is that Angus is just... bad at relationships with most people. He grew up in an environment where any friends he made disappeared after a year, whether they died or survived, and he had two sets of parents die. Because of that, he doesn't form lasting relationships super easily. You can see it in the way he was ok with leaving Febni, and with how he was fairly ok with leaving the Boylands in the Pre-Stolen Century section. Even with Klarg, while he was upset about the bugbear leaving, he was able to hide his emotions and was sad for a while but I thought he got over it pretty quickly considering his age and his living situation. Like he really wants friends and family, but beyond the IPRE gang, he has a hard time believing that it's something he can have for an extended period of time (his surprise after his conversation with Ma Vistra for example). He just kinda... forgets sometimes that people exist for a long time. Not consciously, but subconsciously. 
> 
> So, not a psychologist, def not a child psychologist, so I don't know if any of this is accurate or makes sense, but its something that I had in mind while forming the character of Angus. I know that kids can often adapt to new situations sooner than adults, but I didn't want to ignore how the Stolen Century would affect a kid. So, this was my answer for it. I don't think it is very clear within the fic, (more of just a personal knowledge thing) so since I can give extra information here, I thought I would try and explain myself. Hope you enjoy!!


	13. The Stolen Century Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow seems appropriate to post the Beach Episode on 4th of July. Happy 4th to those in the states! My fireworks have been cancelled, but I hope everyone has the opportunity to have some fun. 
> 
> Short chapter cause it's just the beach ep, but I hope you all enjoy! 
> 
> Thanks again to all my commentors and readers. You guys inspire me to write!!

Angus opened his eyes to the 21st cycle the same way he did every cycle, jammed between some rolls of toilet paper and gallons of water, hearing the sound of one of the IPRE Members coming to check up on him. This time it was Barry to open the door with a smile. “Hey Pal, you doing okay?” 

Angus stood and dusted himself off. “I’m doing good sir, though I wish I had found a more comfortable hiding spot when I first snuck on the ship.” He admitted. 

Barry cast levitate on the boy and reached forward to pull him out. Though they were very careful to leave his spot clear, they had collected a good number of assets and souvenirs from the various worlds that they had visited, and there wasn’t a whole lot of excess storage on the ship. There wasn’t so much that it would be impossible for Angus to escape, but he wasn’t going to shake off the option to float above it when given the chance. He laughed as he landed on the other side of the doorway, stumbling a bit. 

“Well, that was useful!” 

“Well, that pile of crystal skulls I picked up from the last place are taking up a bit of room, didn’t want you to trip. You could’ve broken a skull, pal.” He chuckled.

He sounded scandalized by the prospect and Angus laughed again before heading to the kitchen. Somehow, time-travelling back a year always whet his appetite. Go figure. Barry followed, but that was probably because Lup would likely be there. Angus had noticed that Barry tended to go wherever Lup was, and if he didn’t, then Lup would eventually go where he was. He had a _lot_ of notes about it. He and Taako gossiped about it and made faces behind the lovebirds’ backs all the time. They even had a betting pool over when they would get together, and the winner would get the _gorgeous_ silverware set that they had discovered on the robot planet. (Angus was pretty sure they both liked arguing about it much more than they cared about actually owning it, but he was determined not to lose the bet regardless). 

The elf was already putting the finishing touches on a sandwich when the pair entered. “Is that for me Ma’am?” 

“Sure is Pumpkin,” She said, passing him a plate and ruffling his hair. “I know your appetite post-regeneration, and didn’t want to make you miss out on the first look of the new world.” She glanced at Barry, smiled, and quickly looked away.

“Thank you ma’am. I was understandably pretty nervous the night I snuck on the ship, and the hotel dinner wasn’t especially appetizing anyway.” 

“You’re just a picky eater.” The elf said, knowing it wasn’t true. They had tried too much weird food in too many different worlds for it to be true. She was just teasing, and Angus knew it.

“That is a recent development.” 

“Really, now?” 

“Yup, it started soon after I tried the food you and Taako made the first time.” 

Barry and Lup laughed as they made their way to the hull of the ship. “Flattery will get you everywhere, kid.” 

“Even some macaroons after dinner?” 

She snorted. “I knew you had an agenda. We trained you well.” But she didn’t say no, so Angus went to the next room knowing with certainty that he was getting his favorite cookies that evening. 

“Woah…” The boy breathed as they entered the main hull. Outside the window seemed to be a limitless expanse of blue, the light blue and cloudless sky over a darker blue-grey sea that stretched as far as the eye could see. As they soared close to the water, it disturbed a pod of large sea creatures that jumped alongside the ship as the passengers watched in awe. This world was going to be amazing. 

* * *

This world was so _boring_. It was cool at first, but they had spent several weeks flying around and seeing the same dark blue landscape stretching as far as the eye could see. Every once in a while- rarely- they would come across small islands and land masses, but they were always so tiny that they could see from the ship that they were completely empty. Barry estimated that less than 5% of the entire planet was land, and unlike the robot world this one actually was completely uninhabited. 

“Mermaids!” Merle had shouted the first time it was brought up. “There could be billions of mermaids here.” 

“Right.” Taako said, rolling his eyes. “Sure Merle, there could be mermaids.” The twins shared a look that said ‘if there are mermaids we are totally catching one’. 

But they had given that up a few days back and now they were just doing yet another loop of the empty, grey-blue world. They had the light at least, it had landed fairly close to the ship and with the arm Magnus had installed 4 years ago had made catching it a breeze. Now they just… weren’t sure what to do. 

“You know what?” Davenport asked as a bored Taako and irritated Merle snapped at each other, Magnus and Barry watching the interaction like a television show. “As Captain, I am making an executive decision! We are taking the year off!” 

Angus frowned. “What does that mean, sir?” 

“We have the light, there isn’t anyone else here, and we are in a world that is one giant tropical resort. We’re taking a mental health year. Lucretia, give me the coordinates to that big island with the fruit trees and the large cove. We are having a vacation.” 

As the gnome talked, the irritability and grumpiness that came from being cooped up in a ship for days on end started to evaporate. Excitement and joy took its place as the team started making plans. 

Lup demanded that Taako make their Aunt’s Mojito and Pina Colada recipes, Barry said that he was thinking about trying to get at a tan, Lucretia mentioned grabbing the painting supplies they’d grabbed a few years back and doing some landscapes. Merle seemed excited about just about everything a beach entailed. Angus joined in enthusiastically, excited to explore the tropical paradises the islands promised. 

Upon landing, they made quick work of putting together a crude shelter, taking extra blankets and tapestries they’d collected to make hammocks to string beneath trees. Magnus stung a rope with some baubles tied throughout to the ceiling, and the spellcasters enchanted it so that the baubles would glow during the night. Lup and Taako made sure that there was a decent kitchen, and they even tied some leaves together to make screens. It was all in all, a nice little shelter to spend their break. The first few days were spent building their temporary home, though they tended to separate to rest during the most blistering heat of the day to rest. Angus liked to spend that time reading through Lucretia’s old journals, seeing memories and reminding himself what others had done during their various visits. (He also solved the odd case or two, he _knew_ Davenport had eaten the last of the candy from cycle 12). 

He wasn’t sure what most of the others did those first few days, though Merle’s actions were revealed soon enough. At the yay-we-finished-building-this-crappy-little-house party, the dwarf announced that he had gifts for everyone.

The cleric was grinning broadly at the group, a pile of… stuff behind his back. “So, I hope you like them. I worked really hard on making things I thought you would enjoy. Even tore my hand up pretty good on some shells-” 

“Merle, didn’t we discover those shells were toxic?” Davenport asked, startled. 

“Yeah, probably. So, Davenport, our captain, our boss, I made you a necklace out of a shark’s tooth. You know, like the boss of the ocean?” 

He handed the gnome a large tooth tied to a bit of twine, and Davenport reluctantly put it on with a muttered ‘thanks’ and slipped it on over his head. The crude necklace contrasted with his outfit, but it wasn’t too bad. 

“Magnus, I made you a cool fake tattoo! But I didn’t want to have to deal with the needles and stuff, so I put it on a fake arm!” 

The dwarf displayed a chunk of vaguely arm-shaped wood with vines attached, an elaborate symbol painted on one side. 

“Oh, uh, thanks… Magnus said insincerely as the dwarf insisted on tying it onto the fighter’s arm himself. Next he passed out a pair of kelp slippers to Taako, who used levitate to make them fly away almost immediately. Magnus used the distraction to throw his ‘tattoo’ into the ocean. He gave Lup a… a dead jellyfish that she was supposedly supposed to use as a hair net? An ‘invisible ghost demon’ appeared then and cruelly forced Lup’s beloved present out of her grasp and squashed it. A true shame. 

Lucretia got a trio of sand dollars tied together to replicate the image of a famous cartoon from their old planet, and she seemed to be the only one that was bothering to act grateful for the, er… gift? The dwarf then turned to Angus. 

“So uh, kid, you’re a kid, so I was like, what do kids like? They like toys. I didn’t roll good enough to get googly eyes, but I kinda made you a doll. I hope you like it.” 

What the man had done was stick a shell on top of a piece of driftwood and tie kelp about halfway down and at the bottom to make make-shift arms and legs. Still, if Angus squinted, it did look vaguely doll-like. He grinned. “Thank you sir! I love it.” And tucked it into his arm. 

Barry looked like he was trying very hard to escape the room without anyone noticing. Merle noticed. “It’s okay, Barry! Because, um… I’ll have to wait and make yours later, I’m not feeling real good from that— that cut I got from the shell. I’m gonna go lay down for a couple minutes.”

He wandered off to his room in the shelter, Lucretia following a moment later, ignoring how Taako and Lup were now trying to hit each other with the Man-o-War shower cap. 

The two chased each other around the cove, Angus ducking behind a rock to avoid getting pulled in. He very much enjoyed a good game of catch or dodge-ball, but with those tentacles someone was just asking to take an eye out, and wouldn’t that be a bummer for the first few weeks of their break year. 

Magnus wandered along the beach, pulling up a hunk of driftwood and studying it. Suddenly he turned and shouted, “Lup! Pull!” Loudly enough that it got the elf’s attention from where she was on the opposite side of the cove. 

The human threw the piece of wood up into the air, and without hesitation the evocation wizard let out a magic missile that decimated it as the rest of the group cheered. 

Well, except for Merle, but he let out a very enthusiastic sounding barf. 

“Ok, that’s it!” Magnus said. "I’m going to take this year as a training year in situational awareness, for everyone. So be on the lookout, because when you least suspect it, I’ll be there. I’ll be there!” He kicked up a storm of sand that went high enough that for a few moments, he had completely vanished. When the sand and dust cleared, he was still just kinda standing there. “Yeah I- I didn’t really think about how I would follow that up, like, we’re on a beach. There wasn’t really anywhere I could disappear to in time, but my point still stands. Be ready!” 

Angus giggled as Taako discussed plans to learn how to surf, immediately popping in on a still-puking Merle to ask him to carve him a board. 

Angus… Angus didn't really have a set plan for the year, at least not one that he was quite prepared to share with others yet. Instead he just… had fun. He relaxed in the hammocks and played outside until his already dark skin had grown several shades darker still. He explored the small stretch of land until he knew every nook and cranny. 

He went with Barry to examine the tide pools, poke at the coral with sticks, and listen to the man complain about how uncomfortable denim was when wet. He followed Lucretia to a scenic bluff and discovered that painting wasn’t something he enjoyed, but sitting with the woman and chatting most certainly was. He visited Merle occasionally, especially when his adventures resulted in him finding an especially unique rock, shell, or stick, but mostly let the sickly man rest.

He found Davenport on the beach one night, staring wistfully at the stars. The captain admitted that his father had been a sailor, and from a young age he’d taught Davenport how to navigate by the stars. It was odd for the gnome, had been odd for the past 21 years, to look up and see an unfamiliar sky. From that night on, once a week the pair would sit together, pointing out star clusters and making up their own constellations. Lucretia joined them a few weeks in, and they would come up with myths, legends, and histories to each cluster they named. 

Magnus tried to sneak up with him a few times, but Angus had the luxury of a honed detective talent for observation, and some additional training, courtesy of his first cycle parents. He’d frozen the first time he’d heard a twig snap behind him as he read in his hammock the first time. Immediately, he’d slipped out of it with as little movement and sound as possible. He’d crouched, ducking behind clusters of seagrass and maneuvered around to the other side. He used the hunting skills drilled into him with the months he’d spent living with Mama Fox and Mama Jaguar to slip from bush to boulder to grass clump, until he was in the perfect hiding space to watch Magnus tiptoe over. The fighter had a big smirk on his face, grinning as he rushed the last few steps and flipped the hammock so the boy’s book flew out. “MAG-” He shouted, before stopping in confusion when he noticed the distinct lack of boy. 

Angus leaped forward, tackling the man’s legs. “ANGUS!” He shouted, as the human whirled ineffectively and flailed. The man was laughing before he stopped flailing, and ginned at Angus. 

“That’s my boy! Way to go Ango. I’ll get you next time though.” 

“We’ll see, sir.” 

In response, Magnus stole his book and ran towards the beach. “Cap-nport, Barry, Lup! Angus wants to play keep away!” 

“What? No I don’t, give that back!” He dashed after the man laughing joyously. 

Magnus did get him next time, but not the time after that. The rest of the year was a constant back and forth between the two. Angus got much more observant, but Magnus got much, much sneakier. 

The year was almost half over before Angus finally mustered up his bravery and strength enough to pursue the desire that had been picking at him for years now. Uncertain, but not truly worried, Angus waited for a rare moment where Lup was alone to approach her. Barry was on the water talking to Taako, which could only mean bad things for their bet, but that was something to worry about later. 

He found the elf tying a large rope to a tree branch that extended halfway over a small cliff. She looked up at his approach, looking suspicious as though she had been expecting Magnus. She grinned when she recognized Angus. “Hey Mickey-Dee, you like my setup?” 

“It looks fun, ma’am!” 

“You want to be the first to give it a go?” 

“Um, actually, I wanted to talk to you about something.” 

“Oh, uh, of course kiddo.” She climbed down from the tree and sat on the ground, patting the ground for Angus to join her. 

“So, uh, I been, I mean, I have been thinking about this for awhile, and we’re usually too busy, but for once we aren’t busy at all and so I thought this would be a good time and-"

“Angus…”

“Sorry, I was wondering uh, wondering, pleasewillyouteachmemagicplease?” 

The wizard blinked. “Magic?” She asked. “You want to learn magic?” 

“Yes uh, yes please Ma’am. I’ve always been really curious about it, and was thinking about studying magic even-even before. I know people are usually teenagers or older before they really start with magic, but I don’t know if I will really get there.” He admitted. 

She seemed to think for a few moments before she nodded. “Yeah, uh, yeah alright. Of course kiddo, I can see it now, you’re going to be a baller wizard. I’ll have to see if we have any spare wands-” 

“I found one in, uh, in the closet. You remember, the one that the dog had been chewing on in Puppy World, and Magnus freaked out because he thought it would choke?” 

“Oh yeah. Well you’ve got this all figured out, huh kid?” 

“I’ve been wanting to ask about it for a while.” He admitted. 

“Well alright, a man who knows what he wants.” She nodded. “Although, I do have to tell ya kid, don’t think I didn’t notice that you waited until I was alone to ask. Taako’s going to be a part of this too. If you hadn’t figured it out yet, we’re kinda a package deal.” 

“Oh! I know, I just thought it would be funny if I told everyone at dinner that I asked you because you are clearly the best wizard I ever met by far, way way better than absolutely any wizard I’d ever met. In fact-” He was cut off as Lup cackled, offering up a fist bump. 

“I am so proud right now.” 

Taako was predictably outraged at the claim, though no one else seemed to mind. While there were several other spellcasters on the ship, they had been selected mostly for their other talents, with spellcasting being a useful perk. Taako and Lup had been chosen because they were incredibly powerful wizards. They had met few who could best, or even match, the pair. The lessons went about as well as one could expect. His first few mage hands were incredibly mangled, hideous things, but by the end of the first week they started to resemble hands. 

Other spells came, quicker than most due to the boy’s intelligence and his teachers’ knowledge. He practiced, he used his spells to play games and pranks, he was taught and encouraged by everyone. By the time they were clustered around a bonfire on their last night, he was working on learning his first Level 2 spell. 

The comfort of friends and the smell of campfire and food mixed with the temperate air and sound of waves to create an idyllic last night. Taako made a face at him as Barry and Lup shared a moment, clearly worried about the bet. They were just headed to bed when Lucretia revealed a portrait, all eight of them on the beach, all in the IPRE uniforms, even Angus, who had never worn the uniform was wearing the cloak proudly from where he sat on Magnus’s shoulders. They looked so happy. 

It was beautiful. 


	14. The Stolen Century Part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chanting in a cult-like manner: Angst Angst Angst Angst Angst Angst Angst
> 
> Tesseralia was one of my favorite chapters, and was actually the second Stolen Century cycle I thought of (first was the animal planet). Hope you enjoy, I'm excited about the next chapter too so it may come early!

Angus waved goodbye to Merle as he followed the Abbess into the First Monastery. The woman’s deal that she would give them the Light of Creation if Merle joined the monastery and served them well was both a relief and worrisome. If Merle’s introduction to the monastery was anything to go by, they all had to hope that they wouldn’t put  _ too  _ much stock in good behaviour, but the search was largely out of their hands now.

As the doors closed behind the dwarf, Angus slipped from the group as they all went their own way. This was probably the most advanced land that they had been to that still was fully populated. He wanted a chance to explore cycle 30.

He’d been wandering for a few hours, past public art installations, shopping districts, eating districts, museums and libraries when he saw it. Right on the outskirts of town there was a huge expanse of an empty, fenced in area adorned with hoops and a carefully-lined, rubbery floor. A group of children Angus’s age were all playing some sort of game, those in a blue jersey attempting to throw a ball in a hoop, while a red-shirt team was attempting to tackle them or steal the ball. Every once in a while the teams switched between defense and offense, but it seemed to be more of a structured practice than an actual game. 

Eventually they broke off to grab bottles of water from the nearby benches, and one of the kids noticed Angus. “Hey, you play? Jeffery is late again, we could use another player so the teams are even.” 

“Oh, uh me? I’m afraid I’m not really… familiar with the game. I’m, uh, not from the area.” He didn’t really want to give the whole  _ I’m actually an alien  _ conversation at the moment. 

The kid blinked, and others stopped chatting and drinking to give him a weird look as well. “You’ve never heard of  _ Rebound _ ? You really must be from far away.” 

“Uh, yeah. I uh, I would be interested in learning though! It looks like fun.” 

The team shared a skeptical glance but the leader shrugged. “I guess. It’s not like we need someone who’s actually good, we just need the teams to be even-number so defense can practice in real-game scenarios.” 

Angus moved to go into the area and accepted the red jersey offered by the stranger. The kid, who introduced herself as Sera, ran Angus through the basics of the game. It seemed simple enough, the goal was to dunk the ball through the hoop without being tackled by the opposite team. There were other, more specific rules, but the basic concept of the game seemed pretty basic.

See, here’s the thing about getting reset year after year after year. Any physical progress or changes to your person that happened during a given cycle was reset once the year was up. So, regardless of how often Magnus trained him, regardless of any amount of strength or bulk he might have gained, every time he woke up in that closet, he was back to boarding-school-nerd. 

However, despite it’s moniker, muscle memory did not reside in the muscles. Rather, it was stored in the motor cortex of the brain and, like their memories, it did not reset like their bodies. Therefore, while he was panting rather heavily by the time he crossed the field, his body knew how to react to each perceived ‘threat’ of the opposite teams. For while the Magictown Bullies boasted being the rebound champions several years running, they couldn’t prepare for Angus. They couldn’t prepare for a boy who had spent roughly 30 years dodging deadly tendrils of dark Hunger and therefore wove around their defense with ease. They couldn’t prepare for a boy who literally had the grace of a jungle cat, and could tackle like a fox pouncing on its prey. They couldn’t prepare for a boy with three decades of reluctant training sessions with a prized fighter whenever Magnus got antsy and bored. 

By the time the very late Jefferey actually showed up, Angus had already been given a uniform and his spot on the team. The tardy teammate was relegated to third string. Angus felt bad about taking the other boy’s spot, but it was hard to feel  _ too  _ bad when the others were so excited for him to join. It wasn’t technically official until he could meet their coach, an elf named Lenn, but Sierce promised that it was all but in the bag. 

Angus was so excited that he wore his uniform back to the ship, grin so large that he felt like his face was splitting. 

He was telling Barry and Lucretia about the sport over cookies when Magnus suddenly burst into the ship’s dining room, looking just as excited as Angus when he’d come in. 

“Hey guys, guess what? I found like, this group of neighborhood kids playing a game, and I’m going to be their coach, cause I’m awesome. Ango, it might be a bit of a pull, but I  _ might  _ be able to get you on the team if- wait.” 

He blinked and squinted, as if seeing the boy for the first time. “Wait wait wait, what are you wearing? Is that- is that a  _ Magictown Bullies  _ jersey?” He said the team name as though it was the most profane insult he could think of, and Angus gave a sheepish smile.    
“Um. Yes sir? I take it you know about Rebound?” 

“Know about- do I  _ know  _ about Rebound? Kid, if you saw me, you wouldn’t have to ask that. I’ve practically  _ invented  _ the game at this point.” He grinned at the child, wearing a jersey very different from his own. “You’re going  _ down  _ squirt.” 

“It will be a pleasure to play against you.” Angus said politely, offering the man his hand for a shake. Magnus took the hand with a wicked smirk, but Angus tightened his grip and used the arm to pull himself onto the table so he could look into the man’s eyes. “I misspoke. It will be a pleasure to beat you, sir.” 

Magnus blinked for a moment, shocked, then grinned wickedly. “You took the words right out of my mouth.”

Lup leaned into Taako. "I hope this world has popcorn."

* * *

The next several months were a blur of practices, games, and constant ribbing back and forth between Magnus and Angus. Occasionally the smack talk took place in one of the amazing restaurants Lup and Taako had discovered, or in a gym where they were practicing with one another. 'Goodnight' was replaced with 'Prepare to get stomped', and 'Hello' was switched with 'youre going to look great with that participation ribbon'. It was near constant, and it was very competitive, but never once did it get… mean. They had an understanding. They never asked about the others’ strategy, teams, or weaknesses. In fact, they often gave each other tips as they practiced together, and even went to a professional game together to see how the pro’s did it. 

Angus didn’t think anything of it, not even when Magnus walked him to practice the day before the big game on his way to a nearby T-Shirt Customization shop. “Remember,” The man said with a jaunty wave as Angus joined his team. “You’re going down.” 

“I hope you aren’t too much of a sore loser, sir!” Angus chuckled, turning to face a team that very much was not chuckling. 

“What. Was. That.” Jeffery asked, his face thunderous. 

“Uh, that was Magnus?” 

“We know who he is!” Lenn hissed, fury in their eyes. “He's the coach for the Tesseralia Losers, our first competitors for the state championships. What were you doing with him?” 

“Oh, uh, Magnus is my… uncle? Guardian, he’s my guardian. I live with him.” 

“Oh you do, do you? Seirce said with a sneer. “Wow, what an interesting coincidence that you came to join our team, their biggest competitor, instead of joining the team of the person you literally live with. How many of our plays did you tell him? All of them?” She cursed and turned to her coach. “Can we get their team kicked out of the tournament for attempted espionage?” 

“Wait!” Angus yelled, stunned. “There was no espionage! You guys invited me before he became coach. I haven’t told him anything. I swear. I-I-I’ve been on the team for months now. You  _ know  _ me. Do you really think I would do something like this?” 

If the 19 glares he received meant anything, they definitely did. Angus felt a cold grasp of sadness grip him. This wasn’t… this wasn’t right. He thought these guys were his  _ friends.  _ He’d seen them every day for months. They’d chatted, laughed, had sleepovers and went out for ice cream. They were his  _ friends.  _

“Jeffery.” Lenn said instead of answering. “You’re back in. Angus, you’re giving us that uniform  _ back _ .” The elf spat, looking at him like he was worse than dirt. His teammates looked the same, glaring at him with such hatred that Angus pulled off the uniform with dull fingers and a fuzzy mind.

Sierce glared at him as he handed the uniform back to her. “If we ever see you around our field again, you’ll be sorry.” 

Suddenly the numbness was broken by anger. “Go eat a spore!” He shouted, using what was a truly vulgar swear back in Fungston, but left them simply confused. He paid it no mind and turned around. He stalked off of the field without once looking back. 

He was so angry. It wasn’t fair! He hadn’t done anything, and Magnus hadn’t done anything, but they hadn’t cared about that. How dare they? He had spent months with them, how could they think he would do that? He’d thought they were  _ friends.  _ They were the biggest group of friends his age that he’d had in any cycle. They were the most consistent friends he'd had, he'd hung out with them almost every day the _entire_ cycle. It was the most time he had spent with someone outside his IPRE family in decades. He'd felt like he  _ belonged.  _ He’d had so much  _ fun,  _ he’d loved it. All that and they were kicking him out for  _ nothing.  _

Now, Angus McDonald had always been an even tempered boy. He was not spoiled, was not easily riled up, and was fairly reasonable. Though in the body of a 10 year old, he had truly lived around 40 years. He was fairly mature for his appearance. However, he was still physically a child, and though they were rare and far in between, he did occasionally indulge in fits of temper. 

He was fixing to lock himself in his room and throw a tantrum worthy of the biggest 10 year old Veruca-Salt-esque brat. It wasn’t  _ fair _ . 

He slammed the door to the ship as he entered, passing by Davenport reading in the living room on his way to his room.

Davenport sat up immediately and closed his book. “Who do I need to kill?” He asked, deadly serious. 

Angus wondered what he looked like, chest heaving with gasps, face beet red, and scrunched up in attempt to stave off tears about something so  _ stupid.  _ But those words, the love that they implied, they broke the dam, and suddenly tears were running down his face. Davenport was there in an instant, arms around the boy as he cried and protested over and over again that it wasn’t fair. And how odd it was, that this was what was getting to him. He’d died twice, lost his birth family, seen his found family die over and over again, seen worlds of friends destroyed. He’d seen travesties and hardships, but the straw that broke the camel's back was so… petty. 

It wasn’t fair that he lost everything. It wasn’t fair that he would never grow up. It wasn’t fair that the Hunger was consuming worlds. It wasn’t fair that he may spend the rest of several lives in a constant battle against an all powerful evil. It wasn’t fair that he got kicked off of a sports team for no reason. 

Lup and Taako wandered in just as the waterworks were slowing, and froze immediately. The two shared a look, then had a silent twin-conversation that 

happened solely with their eyebrows. They apparently came to a decision and Lup leant down to be eye level with Angus. “So, I don’t know about you boy-o, but I’m always  _ starving  _ after a good cry sesh. I think we know the perfect comfort food, you in?” 

Angus sniffed and nodded.

“Coo’, but you know you gotta tell us what’s up, right? That’s like, healthy or something like that.” 

The boy looked down sheepishly, feeling a bit foolish even as the sadness and betrayal simmered. “Y-yeah.” He croaked reluctantly. 

“C’mon,” Taako said, ruffling the boy’s hair as the four of them made their way off the ship. “We found this soup earlier that literally  _ blew  _ our minds.” 

* * *

“So, ‘Ko, you ready to go murder some 5th graders?” Lup asked. 

“Heck yeah!” Taako said, pulling a pair of large knives out of the block in the kitchen. Davenport took a sip of his tea. If they were expecting an argument from him, they wouldn’t get one. Though, that was mostly because he was  _ fairly  _ confident that they wouldn’t actually kill any children. Mostly. 

The truth was, Davenport was angry also. He’d never seen Angus in such a state. The boy was sleeping now, exhausted by the episode and in a food coma from the truly exceptional soup. Lucretia and Barry had missed the dinner, but they had been filled in and weren’t offering any protests either. He wished- 

The door to the kitchen opened and Magnus stepped in with a large cardboard box and a huge grin. “Hey, where's Ango? I haven’t mentioned that he’s going down in like, hours.” 

An awkward silence filled the room for a few beats. Angus had been adamant, absolutely adamant that they didn’t tell Magnus. In the boy’s words. “I don’t want him to get mad, or-or feel guilty or anything. This game was important for him too, he loves being a coach and I don’t want him to… to be upset. It wasn’t his fault. Besides, I want him to be at top form for the game tomorrow. The Tesseralia Losers need to  _ destroy  _ the Magictown Bullies.” 

“He’s sleeping.” The gnome answered when it seemed no one else was willing to say anything. 

Magnus nodded. “Making sure he’s well rested for the big game, I feel that. You know, I think I’ll take his advice. Besides, I’m going to be up late at my VICTORY PARTY TOMORROW!” He shouted, as if that would make the sleeping child hear him, and disappeared deeper into the ship. 

“Well uh, that was awkward.” Barry said in the silence that followed the man’s exit. 

Davenport went to grab something stronger than tea. 

* * *

Magnus handed out the last of the new jerseys with a smile, watching as the kids pulled them on. “Alright, hands in, hands in. You all remember our battle cry?” 

The kids nodded and stacked their hands, Magnus’s on top. “Okay, one… two… three.” 

“Extra ice cream to anyone who tackles Angus!” The kids shouted as one, the starters running to take their positions. Magnus grinned and glanced around at the Magictown Bullies, looking to see his boy’s reaction to the chant. Huh, he couldn’t spot him. Magnus frowned. He’d known the kid for 30 years, he wasn’t exactly difficult to recognize. 

The man looked over the group a few more times before his eyes wandered over to the stands. There he was, between Lup and Barry, wearing the Tesseralia Winners T-shirt he’d put in his room that morning as a joke. 

Angus waved at him, looking sheepish. 

“They kicked him off the team.” Lucretia said, suddenly right beside him. “They saw the two of you together yesterday and… just kicked him off.” 

Magnus frowned, not liking that he had apparently been the only one who hadn’t known. “Why didn’t he tell me?” 

“He didn’t want to distract you from the big game. You’d better demolish those little snot-nosed brats.” 

“Ango’s words?” 

“Mostly mine.” 

Magnus gave her a solemn nod, then turned and gave Angus a salute. The boy nodded back, equally solemn, then he winked. Magnus turned back to his team as the game started. It was go time. 

* * *

Angus cheered loudly as the trophy was handed to the Tesseralia Winners, dutifully ignoring the scowls of the Magictown Bullies. They didn’t matter. He had a family who loved him very much, he didn’t need them. 

In retrospect, it probably hadn’t been wise to join a team that literally had ‘Bullies’ in their team name. 

He grinned as the kids tried to do the classic ‘pour out the gatorade bucket on the coach’ move, but they were too short and only made it to about Magnus’s middle-back, soaking his pants. Angus slipped from his seat and made his way over to the group celebrating. Magnus noticed him and a light lit in the man’s face. “Guys,” He said, “That’s Angus!” 

Suddenly, as one the kids moved, a giant mass of children that tackled Angus to the ground. The boy groaned from the bottom. “What just happened?” 

* * *

Nobody moved for what felt like hours, all watching the smokey outline of Merle as the dwarf engaged in parlay. He was speaking to the hunger, this would be the closest they have ever come to understanding their enemy, and that would be the first step towards defeating it. After years of going nowhere, they were finally moving forward in their quest, they might find a solution. It was- 

Suddenly, the small bit of Merle’s outline that was visible turned into vapors and disappeared. He was gone. They took a moment of silence to mourn their friend before Lucretia moved to arrange the funeral, an action they were all well-versed in. It seemed they would have to wait for the next cycle to hear what the hunger had to say. 

Angus shook himself and went to his room. He had to pack for Magnus’s bring-your-family-pets-and-official-documents camping trip. As he entered his room he brushed his finger over the Rebound Championship Trophy Magnus gifted to him, and smiled. 

* * *

Angus woke up in the closet in Cycle 47 and cried out, clutching his head as it was invaded by a deafening, comprehensible noise. It overwhelmed him, a harsh crescendo of discordant notes and jarring sounds. For a few moments he didn’t dare to move as the sounds flowed through him. Eventually, he acclimated enough to realize that the sounds were so discordant because it wasn’t actually one noise at all. It was dozens, hundreds of different songs, poems, stories, myths, symphonies, and concerts, all told at one time and overlapping one another in a sudden stream of consciousness. Finally, after several long moments, the sounds settled. He rose shakily and cast levitate on himself to lift himself over the objects in the closet. 

Usually someone came right away to open the door for him, but he could understand if they needed a moment or two to breathe, especially if they were hit with the same thing he had been. 

He found them clustered in the main hull of the ship, discussing different things that had stuck out to them. 

Magnus was shaking his head. “Such a sad song, who would dare let the dogs out like that? Who? Who? Who? Who?” 

“I’m telling you, the whole song was about cheeseburgers.” Merle insisted. “And the way he sang it, you actually beleive that it was paradise. It was beautiful.” 

“That’s right folks, Paul Blart 3 is coming, and it’s going to be fantastic.” 

“Ango, what did you see?” 

“Uh, it was just a green uh, ogre I think? He had a pet donkey.” 

“Sounds more like a fever dream than actual content, my dude.” Taako said as he got to his feet. “C’mon, I also got a recipe for a  _ killer  _ sandwich. You want to try a Croque Monsieur?” 

“I don’t know what that is, but sure.” 

They wandered to the kitchen and Taako sent the child a smirk as he prepared the food. “Maybe I should let you eat with the silverware, after all you’re never going to see it again after you lose the bet.” 

“I’ve got three more cycles for them to get together.” Angus protested. “Have you seen how much time they spend together? ‘Prepping for Merle’s parlays’? You can’t tell me you really think they spend months prepping for Merle’s 15 minute conversation? Especially when they do most of the prepwork before we even know what the Hunger said. Nope, I don’t believe it. My detective instincts tell me I’m winning this one.”

“Uh huh, I know my sister, kiddo, and-”

“What do you know about me?” Lup asked, dramatically falling into a seat besides Angus. 

“I know that you would love this sandwich.” Taako transitioned easily, slipping one on Lup’s plate and one on Angus’s. The elf winked at the child and the boy bit into his sandwich to hide his grin. 

Oh. That was  _ good _ . 

* * *

The planet was mostly uninhabited. They flew over hundreds of miles of uninhabitable land, until the search for the falling Light led them to a beautifully lush continent filled with gorgeous kingdoms. There was a cluster of the largest kindgoms surrounding a massive mountain in the center of the continent. They followed the light to the mountain, and chose to land at one of the kingdoms as they searched. They one they chose was a gorgeous land called Legato that was filled with skilled Artisans. The chancellor of the land, a woman named Marlow, explained as part of her introduction to the world that their kingdom boasted a conservatory where skilled artists would come to learn and hone their crafts. She explained that each of the major kingdoms had a conservatory, but as a resident of Lagato, she thought that theirs was the very best. 

Unsurprisingly, the team was fairly uninterested in the local politics of the conservatories, though Angus and Lucretia shared a look that spoke of a desire to explore them later. Magnus barely waited for Marlow to finish her spiel before cutting in. 

“So, we are here from another planet, obs cause of the whole spaceship thing, and we are trying to find the light of creation.” 

Davenport nodded, prepared to explain what the light of creation was, when Marlow surprised them. 

“Oh, yeah, sure! Wait, how do  _ you _ all know about the Light of Creation?” 

They froze.  _ No one  _ had ever known what they had been talking about when they mentioned the Light of creation. 

“How do  _ you _ know?” Magnus asked, sounding almost accusing. 

The woman rose from her desk and walked to a calendar on the wall, still seeming puzzled. “Maybe it’d be easier if I just show you. Oh! There’s a submission scheduled for today. If we hurry, we can catch the tail end of it.” 

Angus mouthed the word ‘submission’ as they followed the woman to the conservatory. This was… odd. The Light had just fallen a few days ago, it shouldn’t be common knowledge like this already. Marlow lead them through the practically abandoned conservatory and to a small road leading from the campus towards the mountain. 

As they near the mountain, they began to here gorgeous piano music. They come upon what looks like a concert, though the pianist playing the remarkable piece looks especially nervous. 

An older woman that Marlow introduces as the performer’s professor turns the pages of his sheet music as the musician puts out the unbelievably beautiful song. The song ended and the rows upon rows of people in the audience broke out into thunderous applause, the eight travelers joining in enthusiastically. Angus thought Magnus was even crying behind his sunglasses. 

Then, to Angus’s bemusement, the professor took the sheet music off of the piano, rolled it up, and sealed it closed. The musician took the composition with a bow and put it on a pedestal at the mouth of the stage. Now, that in and of itself wouldn’t have been especially odd. A little odd maybe, but they once went to a world where the people were made of jello and enjoyed being eaten. Angus’s threshold for weird had increased over their travels. 

As had his dislike of jello. 

Regardless, the odd thing wasn’t the act of putting the music on the pedestal, but was rather the palpable, clear tension that rose over the crowd did it. No one in the crowd moved a centimeter, each eye locked onto the scroll as the audience held their breath. The musician looked terrified, and the professor looked like they were going to be sick. Even Marlow was barely breathing as she muttered “Come on, come on, come on... It was good enough. Come on.”

Suddenly, a light appeared from the cavern, a flash that consumed the pedestal with a dull roar. Angus squinted against the brightness. When his eyesight cleared, the sheet music for that amazing song had completely disappeared. Wait… what was, what had the song even sounded like? He had  _ just  _ heard it, it had been the most amazing song he had ever heard. Why was he having trouble… why couldn’t he… why couldn’t he  _ remember  _ it? 

Why wasn’t anyone else freaking out about this? Other than the student, he looked like he was going to pass out. Everyone else in the audience was still just, looking into the cave expectantly. 

Suddenly, whatever they were waiting for happened. Another flash came from the cave, this time flowing over them all, flowing over everything. Suddenly the song was there, back in his mind with what felt like an almost physical force. He could remember every last incredible note. The crowd went insane, cheering and shouting with unreserved excitement. Even Marlow was cheering, “Yeah, that’ll show those no talent Forte jerks!”

For what felt like several minutes they were just surrounded by excitement, happiness and joy. The pianist was crying, a huge grin beneath his tears. 

Marlow finally seemed to get a hold of herself and turned to them. “Well! That’s the Light of Creation! Any questions?”

Angus had several. 


	15. The Stolen Century Part 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told you this one would be kinda early!! 
> 
> It's not super long cause it's just filling up the rest of the cycle, but I hope you all enjoy!! 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has been reading and giving kudos and commenting!! You guys are awesome!

Angus sipped over sweetened lemonade in a plastic cup, a small plate of cheese cubes and crackers balancing on his knee as he listened to the chancellor. They were clustered in the same simple white chairs from the concert, though everyone but the musician’s family and friends were long gone. Marlow had spent the last half hour explaining the phenomenon of the ‘Light of Creation’. Apparently, the light was somewhere deep in the cave, but there was magic that would prevent anyone from entering the cave. Anyone who tried would immediately find themselves walking out, buffeted by some invisible force. 

According to legend, only one person had managed to enter the cave, and it was someone whose submission had been recently accepted by the light and broadcasted. When Davenport had explained the severity of their missions, and how dire the world’s situation was, the woman had frowned. 

“I would like to help, but this isn’t- you realize this isn’t something I can control, right? It isn’t anything that anyone can control." Suddenly she'd brightened. "Oh! I know, there is something I  _ can  _ do to help. Usually there is a strict waiting list and very strenuous vetting process just to get into the Conservatory, but as the Chancellor, I think I can, uh, I can sorta fast track you. So, you eight can enroll in the Conservatory and make your own submissions, and maybe the barrier will let you enter.” 

The group looked amongst themselves, uncertain, not entirely comfortable with leaving this all up to chance. “How long would we need to train?” Lucretia asked. 

“The minimum required study time to submit a piece is 10 months.” 

They’d already spent several weeks on the planet flying around barren landscapes and waiting for the Light to drop. If this didn’t work out for whatever reason, they wouldn’t have much time for a backup plan. Angus still didn’t like that this decade old tradition supposedly lead to something that had fallen a few days ago, but sometimes the Light of Creation made weird things happen, especially if surrounded by magic, so it wasn’t impossible. 

However, Angus wasn’t one for taking things at face value without testing them. He put his drink and empty plate on an empty table and ran for the cave. “Wait, wha-” The chancellor protested, but Angus ignored it. No sooner did his foot cross the threshold than there was a bright light, and suddenly he was running  _ out  _ of the cave, back towards his family. 

Marlow’s jaw was dropped, looking stunned, but none of the other seven looked the least bit surprised. Angus frowned back at the cave before coming back to his seat. 

“So, you can get us into the conservatory?” 

* * *

“I think I would like to study painting.” Lucretia admitted. “You already know that it’s a hobby of mine, but I would love the chance to learn under a master.” 

“I’m going to try my hand as a singer.” Davenport offered. 

“Ugh,” Magnus shouted, sitting on the couch upside down and flipping through a booklet on conservatory classes. “These all sound so  _ boring _ . Why can’t I just submit like, a really good punch?” 

“I think that would be rather hard to put on the pedestal.” Angus offered, glancing out of the corner of his eye where Lup and Barry were whispering together. He glanced through the booklet, trying to find something that may interest the fighter. “It doesn’t have to be something written. Maybe you could do something more physical. There’s dancing, sculpting, metalwork, woodcarving-” 

“Wait, woodcarving. You use like, knives and axes and swords for that, right?” 

“Um, maybe not swords, but you do use blades, I guess.”

“Sweet, so I just have to like, attack logs in an artsy way. I can do that.” 

“I’m kinda interested in the dancing you mentioned.” Merle said. “Look at this, there’s jazz class  _ and  _ interpretive dance class. I don’t know if I can decide. Maybe I’ll take both, just kinda combine them.”

Angus wondered if it was mandatory to watch these things. He may get some conveniently timed nausea at key moments if this turned out how he thought it would. 

Taako hummed, poking at the description of the school of psychology. “I may make a book of aphorisms, you know pithy little sayings and stuff.” 

Lup snorted. “‘Ko, what sayings do  _ you  _ have that you want to put in a book.” 

“Oh, you know, stuff like _ How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something, but to be someone.”  _

Angus blinked. He’d heard that before, but not from Taako. 

Barry looked at the elf in confusion. “Wasn’t that Koko Chanel?” 

Taako grinned. “Maybe it was on our home planet. Now it’s Taako.” 

Lup cackled. “ ‘Ko, ‘Ko I  _ love  _ it. That’s the best thing I ever heard. You have to do it.” 

“I’ll call it ‘Taako Time! A Book of Inspirational Aphorisms for the Independent Soul’. I’ll sell it and make millions.” 

Angus laughed and looked back to the page of the brochure that he’d dogeared. He already knew what he wanted to submit, had known it from the moment the chancellor mentioned the opportunity. He couldn’t wait to get started. 

* * *

Angus bit his lip nervously, trying to ignore how Magnus, Taako, and Merle were all in a heap crying after their respective offerings had been submitted. Several of Taako’s… students? Cult members? were crying as well. His heart was beating heavily with nerves. The other five’s submissions had been accepted, Magnus’s had even been super enthusiastic, if his got denied, it would be super embarrassing. 

More than that however, was that he had put  _ everything  _ into his submission. Almost every hour of the year had been spent working, researching, brainstorming, working with Professor Doyle. He’d put his heart and soul into it. If this got denied it would… he would… be very sad. 

He cleared his throat and showed his offering to the crowd as Professor Doyle stood proudly at his back. “I um, I worked very hard on this. As my professor can tell you, one of my biggest challenges was editing. This is a topic I’m really interested in, so it was hard to decide what to write about. Because of that, I did uh, I did a little extra and wrote 3 books instead of one. They’re about- well, I don’t want to spoil it if I don’t get accepted. So, uh, for my submission I am offering a mystery novel series: Caleb Cleveland, Kid Cop Volumes 1 through 3.” 

He placed the books on the pedestal and felt a thrill of fear when the books disappeared, and with it the memory of the mysteries he’d spent months researching and perfecting. There were a few moments where the decision hung in uncertain silence, long enough that Angus started to deflate. Professor Doyle put a comforting hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Mysteries always take a while. I think the light looks for plotholes. Your books are airtight.” 

The man was still talking when light burst from the cavern once more, sharing his mystery stories with the world. Immediately the crowd cheered, but this time the cheers were mixed with declarations such as ‘man, I really thought it was the butler in book 1, can’t believe it was the girlfriend’, ‘I knew it was the coach! I figured it out the instant they found the hairbrush’, and ‘I can’t believe I missed the clues in book three, it was so  _ obvious _ once the killer was revealed’. 

Angus felt a rush of pride, he couldn’t stop smiling. “I did it!” He cheered. “I did it, I did it! They accepted my book!” 

“Way to go Agnes.” Taako said. “I think the acrobat shoulda been the killer in book 2, but not bad.” 

“That’s what you were supposed to think.” Angus said proudly, taking his seat with his family as they gave him proud and encouraging smiles. He felt like he was bursting with pride and joy, now he got why they had all started crying. 

He subtly snuck a finder under his glasses to wipe his eyes as Barry and Lup took to the stage together. The pair looked nervous, which was pretty common for Barry, but was a look on Lup that Angus had never seen before. The elf picked up a violin as the human sat at the piano, and at a gesture from their professor, they began a chillingly beautiful duet. Unlike other performers that they had seen during the year, who would glance back at the cave or audience every few seconds, Barry and Lup had only eyes for each other. Their sound was quick paced, but soulful and beautiful. It spoke of love, not of the familial that had been growing between 

all of them these long years. No, it was a private, singular love. It was a love that they would share, something special and unique and wholly them. 

Each and every note seemed to proclaim it. 

As the song ended, Barry and Lup joined hands in a bow, laughing and smiling as they refused to let go. Lup turned to Barry and whispered something before they put the notes and a pedestal. The pair left without looking back, not even bothering to wait to see if it was accepted. Angus closed his eyes as the beam shot out, the eno of their joyous laughter playing in his mind as their love song was once again proclaimed. 

“I’m glad I didn’t go last, huh Merle?” Magnus said. 

“It’s Professor Merle.” 

Angus leaned forward, to where Taako was tearing up at his sister’s brave and loving display. “Thanks for the silverware.” 

Tears gone, the elf whirled on him. “SON OF A-”

* * *

They couldn’t get into the cave. All that and still, not a single one could enter. Angus felt numb as he sat in the living room, Davenport pacing worriedly and muttering to himself. Lup and Barry weren't back yet, but no one else could think of anything beyond their certain failure. They only had 10 days. They were almost out of time, and they couldn’t even enter the cave. Lup was contemplating blowing up the mountain against Marlow’s wishes, but no one was confident that they would be able to do it in a way that wouldn’t bury the light. Finally, after a while, the gnome told them to sleep on it, saying that they would try again in the morning. 

* * *

The next morning awoke to a somber uncertainty that they would save the world, and heart shaped omelettes. It was an odd mixture. 

However, it got even odder when Magnus and Barry burst into the room. Barry immediately walked over to Lup and gave her a peck on the forehead. Angus pointedly took a bite of the omelet with his brand new fork. Then Magnus yelled “The Light isn’t in the cave,” and all attention went to the fighter. The men told a story of a pod of magical, sentient jellyfish that lived in the cave, one of whom loved his duck carvings. Angus would have dismissed it as a fever dream, but the bottom of his pajama pants were wet and he smelled vaguely fish-like. 

“Ok,” Taako said, "if it’s not in that cave thing, I’ve got like 100 followers, er I mean fans, who would totes do whatever I said. I'll get them to look. It'll take away from their Taako worship time but, sacrifices must be made." He sighed dramatically.

“Yeah, I have gotten myself quite a few fans too,” Merle said proudly. "I can ask around.” 

Davenport nodded, “This may be a good thing. We have a chance of finding the Light if it isn’t somewhere that we can’t get to. Let’s go, tell anyone you can. We need as many eyes on this as possible.” 

The team nodded and scattered, though Magnus seemed distracted. While Angus went to find the detective club at the conservatory, he noticed the fighter was headed back to the mountain pass. The last ten days of the cycle passed. Taako got a sweet golden apple, but there was no hint of the light. Magnus more often than not snuck into the cave to visit the fish. He let Lucretia and Angus visit once, as they were both extremely interested in the magical creatures. The jellyfish seemed wary at first, but Magnus had put the youngest one’s mind at ease by insisting that both Lucretia and Angus were collectors as well. 

The woman had brought a small book of her drawing and sketches, which the fish seemed to appreciate, so Angus showed it his detective notebook, filled to the brim with careful notes about different worlds, people, and mysteries that they had come across. 

The little fish seemed to appreciate their like minded-ness and lead them deeper into the cave where there were  _ dozens  _ of the magical creatures, all much larger than the one they were playing with. Angus kept a grip on one of the baby fish’s tentacles as it led him to it’s bed, now almost covered with ducks. Lucreatia however had wandered closer to the pool to watch the bigger fish as they breached. 

She sputtered in disgust as the water got into her mouth, and Angus couldn’t help but giggle. Apparently, the baby fish liked the sound as it hummed a song in reply. Angus grinned in reply. “So, which duck is your favorite?” 

* * *

When the hunger came, several days early, no light had been found. They had been eating breakfast at the conservatory, Magnus carving the butter into a tiny duck. There had been no warning, it had been a normal brainstorming breakfast when suddenly, boom. The hunger was there. It knew where they were. It had found them. 

Davenport was on his feet immediately. “ Bug out, we’re up in the air in two minutes.”

Magnus had looked seriously at those still around the table. “Can I address the elephant in the room? I’m not leaving that fish behind.  Lup? Don’t. Leave. Without me.”

The elf looked at him with wide eyes, glancing back and forth between him and the darkening windows. “ We need to get— we need to— we gotta bounce. Look up- Look up, bud. It’s, it’s the Big H. It’s time to roll.”

“ Do you remember with the robits? And you stopped us all from doing something terrible? I’m stopping you all. Don’t. Leave. Without me.” 

And suddenly the man was off, running towards the mountain at a dead sprint. Angus took his wand in hand from where it hung around his neck. Barry, Lup, and Taako all did the same as Merle pulled out his well worn bible. 

“ Um, looks like we need to hold off… the apocalypse, for a few minutes, and buy some time. Y’all down?”

“Oh yeah!” Taako said with a grin. 

Merle nodded. “We haven’t fought anything in like, 3 cycles.” 

“I’m always ready Ma’am.” 

The child let out the best offensive magic that he knew, surrounded by some of the most powerful magic users across any world. The boy cast spell after spell until his slots were completely depleted, then he cast Cantrips, back to back with his family as Magnus ran past, holding the jellyfish and dodging the Hunger’s attacks. Davenport yelled at them from the ship as Magnus ran on, but it was too late for them to get on. The ship closed its doors behind Mangus and took off. The hunger’s attack continued. Something large shot towards Angus, there was a moment of only darkness and pain.

Angus woke up in the closet. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES!!! Yes that's right ANGUS WROTE CALEN CLEVELAND!!!!! 
> 
> I have been so incredibly excited about this reveal, I'm so proud of myself for this twist, y'all don't even know. 
> 
> Not exactly foreshadowing, but I have stuff in the first part to support the twist. Angus gave Taako a book for candlenights that was about a pair of spellcasting twin elves (he wrote it for Taako and Lup), he gave Merle one about a case in a garden (a stretch but if I had mentioned the plot more it would have been more suited to Merle cause he wrote it for him), he mentions the book with a very in-control and not-evil lich (written after Barry and Lup became Liches), and he mentions a 'Nerdy Necromancer' (Barry). I like to think he wrote several books that star/feature the IPRE gang that just weren't relevant and not mentioned. 
> 
> Let me know what you think of this twist!


	16. The Stolen Century Part 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEy everyone!! Thank you so much for readiing, I hope you're enjoying the fic!! Was super happy so many of you liked the Caleb Cleveland twist. The Judge cycle is up next, can't wait to hear your thoughts on it. 
> 
> Thanks for all of your kudos and comments!!!

Angus McDonald yawned as they did another flyover of the barren, desolate wasteland. The only signs of life they had seen were small ramshackle tent clusters surrounding black bonfires. Beyond that it was hour after hour of the same desolate and monotonous scene. 

He was exhausted. They all were. Ever since Legato, the Hunger had been coming earlier and attacking with more ferocity. It was getting stronger after each encounter as well. It was getting harder to escape, and if you didn’t count Merle’s parlays, they had had more deaths in the years since Legato than they’d had in all of the years before put together. 

They were working even harder each year to learn and grow, trying to find a way to gain an upper hand. Every once in a while though they landed on a, well it would be rude to call an entire world a dud, but they would land on one where their history and knowledge had been lost to time following a desolation, or one that was primitive enough that there wasn’t much to take away. Angus worried that this would be one such world. 

He was just considering asking Lucretia if he could keep Fisher company in his tank in her room when Barry yelled that he saw something. 

The child got on his tiptoes to peer out the window, breath catching at the sight of a beautiful gothic city made of stark white marble. The city itself was an island, set right in the center of a massive blue lake and filled with idyllic gardens, mansions, and buildings. The beauty and peace of the city wasn’t what drew Angus’s attention however. Instead, his gaze was locked on four statues at the city’s center. They were humanoid statues, gigantic, about 30 stories tall and kneeling. The statues were so huge that it seemed like their shadows filled the rest of the idyllic town.

Davenport looked around the group, none of whom seemed particularly happy that the monotony had been broken by… this. “W e have a couple of days before the light falls. Do you all think that maybe we should set down there and get the lay of the land?” 

Magnus frowned, looking over the nearly picture-perfect city. “This place looks super  _ boring _ .”

The gnome shrugged. “I mean, I agree, but they, they might, you know—there might be something that we could  _ learn  _ there, or you know, we could at least find out more about this world.”

“Yeah,” Taako agreed. “I don’t agree with Magnus’s uh… suggestion that we leave this world to its grim fate… unaided. Uh, even though it may be boring, I think we should try to help them.” 

“Yeah, let’s be  _ human  _ about it.” Merle added. 

Angus frowned, not sure why he felt uncertain. He just knew that there was something ahead that he did  _ not  _ like. “I don’t like this place. I think we should check in with some of the other people we saw. If everything else in this world is this terrible… There being one single place that looks, like, perfect is just kinda screaming trap to me. Anybody else?” He made a mental note to put a similar scenario in his Caleb Cleveland books. He still wrote them, for fun. It was his de-stresser as the years got harder, something he could do to relax when he felt completely overwhelmed. He was on book 9. 

“Yes.” Magnus said emphatically. “Yes, that. I would just rather check in with the people living outside whatever this, um, ‘shining city on the hill’ is.” 

Cap’n’port nodded. “Okay, that’s all fair. Well, why don’t we do another low pass before we-” 

Suddenly there was a flash of light. Angus felt a sensation of heat flare against his body as he started to fall. The world went black before he could get his mouth open to scream. 

* * *

The boy woke up in chains, surrounded by his bound family, and wished he’d opened his eyes to his closet. 

He felt powerless, both literally and figuratively. He couldn’t feel the magic that he had trained and honed for so many cycles. It had been a constant companion since the beach cycle, and now that it was gone he felt like he had lost a limb. Something had taken his magic away. 

The child broke into coughs as the musty, dusty air got into his mouth and lungs. Squinting against the grit in his eyes, the boy took in their surroundings. He noted that the others were bound just as he was, hands behind their backs in what looked and felt like chains. He saw Davenport, Merle, Magnus, Barry, Lup, and Taako. Lucretia- where was Lucretia? He could only hope that she escaped whatever odd fate had befallen the rest of them. 

He hoped she was okay. He had a feeling they weren't. 

They were in some sort of clearing, surrounded by a huge stone wall with no ceiling. They were in a stone dais at the center of the clearing, with a podium on one side. The sky above was blank and grey, not a star, moon, or cloud in the sky. The only thing that was in the sky were the three creepy statues that had given Angus such a horrible feeling. Sometimes he hated being right. The others groaned as they woke as well, each following Angus and coughing a bit before looking around the area. 

Once they had all awoken, a tall man in a bright purple suit appeared from seemingly nowhere to walk to the podium. The man seemed bored as he looked over their group, not seeming to see anything wrong with the picture in front of him. “ Hello. My name is Prosecutor Olson. The six of you are being tried for… let’s see. Uh, interloping, malicious intent, and violation of a no-fly zone ordinance… Just making sure I have your names down right for the record here: Merle, Davenport, Lup, Magnus, Barry, Angus, Take— Taaaay-ko?” 

“Taako, like from TV?” Taako answered, and Angus had to fight not to smirk. They’d visited one world,  _ one single world,  _ where they had somehow discovered how to transmit moving images to people’s houses, and had let Taako do a show and now that’s how he introduced himself  _ everywhere. _

The prosecutor made a note in his book. “Okay, um, well, this is just a preliminary hearing to establish veracity for the defense. Um, before I begin, how does your party plead to these charges?” 

“Not guilty!” Taako shouted, with others clamoring in agreement. 

Olson attempted to start the meeting, but of course, of course Magnus had to interrupt him. Angus probably would have been disappointed if no one had interrupted at some point. That, or it would have been his cue that he wasn't  _ really  _ with his family. Of course, Magnus interrupted to ask who shot down the ship then threatened the prosecutor, which probably didn’t make them many friends for the trial. 

Angus hoped that if there was a jury, they would be very lenient. He also very much hoped that this world did not have the concept of being held in contempt of the court. 

“If the defense continues to conduct themselves in this manner, they will be held in contempt.” Olson shouted. 

So much for that hope. 

“Justices, I leave it in your hands.” He said, leaving the dias and podium. 

Suddenly, four booking voices sounded, one after the other, and Angus realized with horror that the terrifying statues were  _ sentient. _

This was officially his least favorite cycle. 

“You’re a long way from home, from your journey’s beginning. And still a way from your journey’s end, aren’t you?”

“The truth of this matter is already known. Speak it openly.”

“Piety will be rewarded, corruption will be punished.”

“None of your deeds will be kept from our divine providence. The measure of your words and deeds throughout the fullness of your lives will be considered and weighed.” 

_ Least favorite.  _ That included the world where he had been allergic to every single plant.

Then, the statue, the  _ justice,  _ seemed to… assess Magnus. Claiming that his history of violence led to the sins of pride and wrath. Magnus’s defense was passionate, encouraging and true. 

“I plead not guilty! What you call— what you call  _ wrath _ , I call bravery; what you call  _ pride, _ I call confidence. It’s given me the strength to do the good that I have, and accomplish the things that I’ve accomplished. To do otherwise would be to go against my own character, and that would be a far greater sin.”

There was no response, other than perhaps the shadow of a nod as they turned the trial onto Barry, who was charged with sloth and envy. Merle, was charged with sloth, envy and lust. Lup, who herself admitted to lust, gluttony, pride, sloth, and wrath. Davenport was charged with wrath and Taako with greed, envy, and pride. Each member of the team spoke up, either offering up defenses or pleading guilty. Taako’s defense was particularly interesting, and then came the moment Angus had been dreading as the attention turned to him. 

“Angus McDonald”, One of the voices began. “You were not intended to be on this journey at all, but arrogance and lofty promises lead you onto this path as you made that initial bet.” 

Another voice took up the accusation. “Through your time on this path, and even before it, you have had a desire for things that you have not had. You coveted the relationships, familial and platonic, of those that you met. You coveted age and wisdom, and the respect that follows.” 

A third voice finished, “Angus McDonald, we charge you with pride and envy. How do you plead?” 

Angus took a deep breath. “I plead not guilty. For several reasons. Exhibit A,“ He began, and he could hear Taako mutter ‘oh here we go’. But Angus was a  _ Detective.  _ He knew law, this was his jam. “While you pointed out earlier that you were judging our pasts, the accusations that you have laid against me have all taken place on a previous world. Therefore, they are outside of your jurisdiction and under the judgement of the reigning authority figures of that planet. Therefore, an extradition warrant or other formal charges from the wronged planet would be required to levy charges against any past crimes.” Angus continued his defense, pulling up anything he knew about ex post facto law, jurisdiction law, and even the procedures of trying minors, both as minors and adults. He was pretty sure that Merle had fallen asleep behind him and Taako was close to following, but he continued until he exhausted every bit of knowledge that he had. He ended his speech with one final plea. 

“Exhibit N… I am a literal child. Part of a child’s brain development and maturity process is overcoming selfishness. Children also, like, don’t realize their limits at all and I really wanted to impress those guys because I wanted them to be my friends. So, I would argue that I was showing, uh, stupidity instead of pride, and that envy is a natural part of the maturing process, and uh, I’m  _ 10 _ . Technically. Uh, the defense rests?”

The prosecutor looked at him in irritation. He had started checking his watch around Exhibit G. Angus didn’t think any of them had made any friends this cycle so far. “Thank you for your answers, defendants. Some of you were extremely… thorough. I will point out, that the laws of your native land do not necessarily apply here.” 

“You mean we sat through that for nothing?” 

“Shut up Merle, you slept through half of it.”

“The justices will now ask a series of questions to help guide their case during your proper trial later on. Their divine providence  _ is  _ infallible, so I guess answer truthfully, please. All of this is just to establish character, we don’t know the seven of you and this is how we establish veracity.”

The justices asked several questions, about their home, their purpose for coming to their planet, those left on the ship. For some reason, they let Taako, Magnus and Merle be the main spokespeople, despite the three’s less than stellar method for talking with authority figures. Maybe it was because no one else really wanted to talk to the creepy judge statues. Angus knew it was his reason. He kind of wanted to interject when they just started harping on the whole ‘you shot our ship’ thing, but considering the functionality of the ship was literally the only hope for survival of the entire multiverse, he held off. 

The justices didn’t respond, but prosecutor Olson answered, “If you’re found innocent in the proper trial of the charges set against you, of course you’ll be free to go and we will make sure you are repaid for the damages done to your vessel. So, don’t worry about that as long as you all are telling the truth.” 

Angus frowned, trying to remember if anyone had lied. Sometimes it was hard to tell, especially with all the goofs. 

“Is there an appellate process?” Merle asked. 

“Good question.” Magnus nodded at the dwarf, who continued. 

“Because if this takes too long, the decision’s kinda gonna be taken out of your hands.”

Prosecutor Olson was starting to look distinctly harried. “There’s no appealing the voice of the Justices, their providence is infallible. I don’t understand—” 

Suddenly, the statues moved. They shifted with a sudden and unexpected swiftness as they broke into a whispered conversation several stories above the team’s heads. After only a moment, they settled back to dole out judgement. 

One of the justice’s booming voices sounded overhead. “Merle Highchurch. Taako. Angus McDonald. Our providence has witnessed your past deeds and found you worthy.” Angus felt relief and terror strike him simultaneously. That wasn’t everyone. 

Another said, “Davenport, Lup, Barry Bluejeans, and Magnus Burnsides, our providence has witnessed your past deeds and found you wanting.” 

Magnus cursed vehemently and began struggling in his bonds. They snapped, and Magnus rushed towards the protesting Olson, only to freeze. The dust of the air firmed and covered him, until Magnus was gone and only a very lifelike statue was in his place. 

Taako snorted, even as his ears flicked back. “You know what, I know I should be mad but I think he would be so flattered to see a statue of himself, honestly.”

“Oh, he’d love it!”

Angus added, “I think he’d be mad that they didn’t make the muscles look bigger.” 

Barry laughed. “But that’s literally how big his muscles are.” 

“I don’t think that matters.” Angus answered. 

Olsen cut in on the goofs. “That was unfortunate and completely unnecessary. This is just a preliminary hearing, please, restrain yourselves until we can have the full trial! Now—” 

A justice’s voice sounded above them. “The rest of your lives continue, as does our judgment.”

Olson explained that, having examined their past, the justices would then see into the future in order to make a more informed decision. The sky grew darker suddenly, and clouds moved across it to become a terrifying, huge spiral in the sky. The stone statues leaned down, their faces only a few yards from where their group sat still bound. 

The justices spoke in one, in a horrifying conglomeration of voices that spoke of horrible things. If this truly was their future, Angus had never been more scared, and that included the first time he saw the Hunger. 

“They willingly tear out their souls…

They shatter the very will of God…

Who are  _ they _ to take the fate of the world in their hands…?

They’ll burn the world down around them…

We must find the seventh harbinger…

There will be a necessary betrayal…

They abandon their family…

They steal and lie and swindle...

They run away from the town they kill…

They trick so many people… 

They run away from the town they let die…

They kill so many goblins, such brutality, for what…?

They are a moment too late. The town will be engulfed…

So much arrogance, so many broken promises...

They open their home to him, and he deceives them...

They killed him in the street, threw his body off a cliff, torn apart by dogs…

They take time from their rescue to steal from the bank…

They let them forget, they abandon those who forget...

They assault the guardian of clay. They know they’ll forget…

He took the guards with them, left them for the monsters…

A terrible choice, it is not theirs to make…

It is nobody’s to make.”

It just… it just kept going. It overwhelmed Angus, it was so hard to pick out singular voices or accusations but, they hadn’t actually  _ done  _ any of that. 

Suddenly, one of the justices called for them to stop. The judges condemned them to a path of indescribable destruction, that they alone would cause. They promised choices with horrific outcomes that people shouldn’t be permitted to make. Then- then came the part that seemed to really shake them. 

“Your path leads to the end of our providence. We don’t know why.” One voice said, and while previously they had been largely emotionless, Angus could sense deep anger in this proclamation. 

Another voice said, “Your path is your own, but our providence has touched your futures. The six of you will fall short of glories, so it is known and so it has always been known, our judgement is decided.”

Angus could hear Prosecutor Olson rushing forward, confusion and panic in his voice. “Wait, hold on, this is just a preliminary hearing—”

Angus could feel… something, it felt like it came from inside of him. Or it came from the dust around them. Or… he didn’t know. He didn’t know what it was or where it came from, all he knew was pain. All he knew was that he couldn’t move. His last thought was a prayer that Lucretia had made it out.

Everything went dark. 

* * *

He woke up in his closet, and cried in relief. 

* * *

Angus cast ‘Blink’ to get out of the closet at the beginning of the 87th cycle. He could no longer see his cubbyhole when standing at the closet entrance, though they had made sure that his spot would always be clear. He let his wand hang down on it’s lanyard as he re-materialized, and scurried to the kitchen to grab one of the pre-made sandwiches in the fridge before hurrying to the hull to join his family. 

Lucretia scooted over in her seat as Angus joined them, so that he would be able to see out the window better. Lucretia… she had changed during the cycle where they had been killed by the justices. The isolation, responsibility and trauma of the year had affected her. For many years, she had done little more than write down events as they happened, but recently she had begun living them more. She was more confident, more outspoken. It was a good look on her, Angus thought. 

He devoured his sandwich in a few quick bites. They had been growing stronger throughout their adventures, but so had the Hunger. It had been getting closer and closer. The past four years had been horrible, and they all feared that  _ every  _ year from here on out would be a bad year, until the year that it all stopped, the year that the close call was too close. 

Angus’s first thought was that the world was… off. He wasn’t sure what it was, the world seemed similar to some of the other, more barren, worlds that they’d visited. But it just… wasn’t right. 

“Uh, does everyone else you know…  _ feel that _ ?” Taako asked, and abruptly Angus realized that his unease was not something merely physical. His magic was screaming at him that something was wrong, something was very very wrong. 

Suddenly, Davenport took in a sharp, horrified breath, and all eyes went to the windows ahead. A huge purple, shimmering wall stretched seemingly endlessly into the sky in front of them.

“What is it?” Magnus asked, unsettled. 

“It’s the Plane of Magic.” Lup breathed. “It’s… it’s not in its orbit. It has… vivisected this plane somehow.” 

“What does that… mean?” The fighter asked. 

Barry didn’t look away from the planar intersection. “We don’t know.” 

Davenport carefully lowered the ship, not daring to go especially close to the plane of magic. The world was… quiet. Deeply and unsettlingly so. There were no animals, no people, even the waves and wind were still. After a few hours, Angus realized that not even the sun was moving. 

Beyond the absence of noise, there was a constant itching at the back of Angus’s mind, an ever-present awareness of the power of the plane of magic. The world seemed to be swimming with information as well, piles and piles of books in every home, more libraries and schools per acre than the last 10 cycles had combined. It hadn’t taken long to discover that the world had once been full of magic users, the least of whom would likely be considered a master in any other world. Apparently, they had been so eager to grow in power and knowledge that they had, in their hubris, attempted to pull the plane of magic to the prime material plane. Well, not ‘tried’ per say. They had succeeded. 

It had just led to the complete destruction of their entire world. 

Luckily, the Light landed on the same side of the Plane of Magic as them, so it was fairly easy to find once it had landed. Then, it was a quiet, still, year long wait. 

This wasn’t like the beach year though, where they could relish in some time of relaxation. They couldn’t afford that anymore, not with the Hunger so close. Especially not in a world steeped in so much knowledge. 

Barry and Lup devoted their time to studying the Light and their respective types of magic, necromancy and evocation. Taako found a bard college and studied the concept of voice mimicry and manipulations, to help his disguises. Davenport decided to devote more attention to mastering illusion magic, and even Lucretia started working on learning a few spells from Merle. 

Merle focused on writing down his meniors, which wasn’t especially making use of their resources, but it made sense considering it seemed that the magic on this planet had been mostly wizardry and sorcery. There was very little, if any, mention of patrons or god-based magic, so it would have been difficult for Merle to really use most of the books scattered around the world. 

Magnus, the only non-magic-user on their campaign likewise had little to do. As there were no threats, he chose to go on an adventure with Fisher. 

Angus joined the first few days, he liked spending time with the fish and he was still struggling to choose between a few different wizard schools. Magnus tried to take them on a camping trip, but Fisher apparently had other things in mind and actually led them to a gorgeous library. 

That was much more Angus's speed. He knew he liked that fish. The child ran through the library looking through the various sections and seeing thousands of fascinating books. 

He'd just grabbed a mystery novel with an interesting title when he heard Magnus speaking in a measured, rhythmic tone. He came back to the lobby to find the fighter reading aloud to the fish, both settled comfortably in some large cushions. 

Story time! Angus hurried over and settled into Fisher's side, the tendrils moving to wrap him into a casual hug. The fish had grown over the years, and it was now bigger even than Angus, but he was still perfect snuggling size. 

Magnus looked up at Angus's entrance, but otherwise didn't pause in his reading of the historical tome. 

The man read through the night, his book well lit by the fire he somehow thought was a good idea to light in the middle of a library. 

It was a fascinating book, written for a very interesting world. Angus was pleasantly interested and felt like he had learned a lot about the planet by the time the fighter finished. 

Magnus closed the book, and when he did Fisher rose, jostling Angus out of his place. It took the book from Magnus's offering hands and… ate it? 

Angus blinked. Then blinked again. Did that really just happen. The book appeared for a moment in it's jelly cap before disappearing once and for all. What was that all about? Did Fisher really just  _ eat  _ a book about… a book about… 

He couldn't remember  _ anything  _ about the book Magnus had just finished reading. He looked at Fisher, stunned at the reminder of the power that the people of Legato had called the Light of Creation. 

"Hey!" Magnus scolded. "Fisher?  _ That’s _ not cool! Now I—"

But Fisher twirled in place, so happy and pleased that even Angus found it hard to complain. Seeing Fisher's joy, the man went to the next book, but Angus's mind was racing. 

They hadn't gone to many of the submission events on Legato, all too frantic trying to finish their own studies before the year was up. But… he remember Marlow's fear that first day, the worry that the pianist's song wouldn't be accepted. They never  _ really  _ knew what not being accepted would entail, but maybe it was this. The fish would take the offering and just… not broadcast it back out. 

He wondered idly how much had been lost to memory because of that. How much was gone from the moment it was offered, never to be known again. 

He shuddered in slight fear, but when Magnus's voice started to grow hoarse with use, he took the book from the fighters hands and continued on.

* * *

Davenport was in the university conference room when the boy entered. The gnome had books on illusion magic scattered all over the incredibly long table, as well as several slowly-filling journals. He was using the huge table so that he could have everything in front of him at once. 

Shoot, that had been  _ his  _ idea. 

Davenport looked up and smiled when he saw the boy. “Angus! What brings you here.” 

“Oh, well I was just coming to, to you know study the whole magic… thing. I didn’t mean to disturb you.” 

The gnome waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t worry, don’t worry. There’s plenty of room.” With a wave of his hand, the captain made it so that his notes only took up half the table, splitting it horizontally so that the boy had plenty of room for his own books. 

“Thank you, sir!” The child chirped as he laid out his books. Davenport leaned over to read some of the titles and hummed. 

“Enchantment, eh? Don’t take this the wrong way, but with your interest in detective work, I would have thought you would pursue divination. Seeing the future and the past and all that.” 

“Well, I had actually considered that, sir. That’s one of the reasons why I waited so long to come to the school, I couldn’t decide what I wanted to study. I think… I think I don’t want to study divination  _ because  _ I like my detective work too much.” 

“Why do you say that?” 

“In the library, with Fisher and Magnus, I was reading a mystery book. At the end of it, I realized that I never had the smallest bit of temptation to read ahead and see who the culprit actually was. I wanted to try and solve it myself. So, I guess it’s kinda like that.” He thought for a moment. “Plus, I don’t want Taako and Merle bugging me to predict lottery numbers in every single cycle we go to from now on.” 

Davenport chuckled. “So, what was the mystery about?” 

“Oh, I don’t remember. It wasn’t a very good book so I fed it to Fisher.” He shrugged. He thought even his worst Caleb Cleveland book had been better than it. He was at 15 books now. “So, I decided to go with enchantment. I could still have the fun of solving the mysteries, but it would help me question suspects and witnesses, or get me into places people didn’t want me in.”

“Which is most places you want to be.” The captain laughed. 

“Exactly.” Angus said with a grin as he picked up his first book. The pair enjoyed a peaceful joint study session for the rest of the day, and several days after. 

* * *

At one point, Barry called a meeting to discuss his progress studying the Light of Creation. “So, uh, I guess the big thing it that I know how the hunger is, you know, finding us every year.” 

“Yeah, that  _ might  _ be the big thing.” Taako teased. 

“I don’t know, aren’t there more important things, for example can you eat it?” 

“Ha ha guys.” Barry said sardonically. “Anyway, the Light… there is a power in it that makes it desirable, kind of like a thrall. It  _ needs  _ to be desired. It makes things, people, the Hunger, animals, want it. I- theres no real word for it, but I guess that Light just gives off… craveability.” 

Angus bit back a snort at the word. It sounded like something from a poorly written press release about a fast food restaurant. 

“So, it’s kinda leading the hunger to itself, to  _ us  _ with that power. I’m working on trying to, like, block the signal. But it’s not like I can just stick a tinfoil hat on this thing and call it good. So, I’m working on it, but if we can find a way to block the signal… well it would be a lot harder for the Hunger to track us down.” 

“That’s my man!” Lup said proudly. “Figuring stuff out.” 

Barry blushed in reply, but seemed pleased as they went into greater detail into what they had used to try and block the signal. It was… it was progress. It was better than anything they had ever had before. Angus could feel some old optimism return. They might… they might actually be able to do this. 

The year is… peaceful, for the most part. They work hard to learn magic and study the Light, but for the most part it’s just… chill. Nearly at the end of the year, Taako enlisted his help to locate, quote, ‘The most amazing place to smash up and destroy that you could ever believe. Like, a super cool place to just demolish’. They found a DMV that was oddly made entirely out of crystal and glass, much to Taako’s glee, and Angus didn’t see the elf much for a few days after that. 

In fact, he didn’t see him again until the day he joined Davenport in the park. It was the same pleasant temperature that it had been ever since they’d landed, and the captain was sitting on a tree reading a book while Angus read on the swingset nearby. 

Suddenly, Davenport’s voice sounded in his mind as the gnome cast the ‘Sending’ spell. “Taako and Lup are here with Water Guns. I knew this day would come. Water balloons under the slide.”

Angus blinked. He  _ knew  _ this day would come? That was… okay, that was fair. He had met their family after all. 

He grabbed the bucket primed with water balloons and hid behind the slide, not the least bit surprised to turn around and see  _ himself  _ still sitting on the slide. Davenport’s illusions were  _ so good.  _

Suddenly, two forms leaped out of the bushes, brandishing large water guns. Lup shot a stream at Mirage-enport, and Taako aimed straight at Not-Angus, both standing for a moment in surprise when the water went straight through them. Davenport jumped out from behind them, yelling ‘Illusions!” And Angus took that as his cue to jump out and start pelting the pair with the balloons as Davenport unloaded his own water gun on the screaming elves. 

It didn’t take long for the two to recuperate, and soon they had a truly epic water gun and balloon fight in the middle of the park, until they were all soaked to the bone and panting from exertion and laughter. It was a good day. 

* * *

A few weeks later, he exited his closet on the 88th cycle to see a beaming Lup and Barry. “So, we’re kinda Liches now. Blowing up the hunger didn’t  _ exactly _ work. But we’re close.” 

Angus blinked. “I’m sorry, did she say  _ Liches? _ How long was I in that closet?” 


	17. The Stolen Century Part 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early chapter!! I was just so excited about it!!  
> This is the last installment of the Stolen Century folks, Faerun is coming up, and with it the real beginning. Hope you enjoy, can't wait to hear your thoughts of Angus's start to this world.

Angus had to fight to keep the annoyance off his face as the artificers tried to argue that he was too young to learn the craft. Luckily, his family jumped down their throats before he could say a word, but after 92 cycles it was getting a little old. Perhaps it wouldn’t bother him quite as much if he was in a better mood, but the last several cycles had been exhausting. They were getting closer to defeating the monster, or at least finding a way to evade it, but it was also growing stronger. They needed all of the help they could get, and the kind of incredibly powerful artifacts they could make at the Hanging Arcaneum were just what they needed. The Artificers may even help them gain the knowledge and skills they needed to understand and harness the power of the Light. 

So he wasn’t missing out just because he was too small to actually stoke the bellows. 

Finally, Holdsworth, the chief artificer related under the might of Lup, Lucretia, and Magnus. “Fine, fine. We have things in place to aid the smaller races, they should work for the boy. But there will be no special privileges. For any of you. You will have to train under our instructors just like every other apprentice. Once you have studied the craft from the ground up, and have crafted your own object, then you may learn our greatest secrets.” 

The year was… not easy. It was hours and hours of hard work, studying, and failure. He found himself muttering lessons in his sleep, working through meals, and sharing tired smiles with his companions. But the new information was  _ good.  _ It was essential, helpful, and more than that it was interesting. 

As they finished their apprenticeship, his friends made a variety of different tools. Some magic casting devices, weapons, or armor, as well as a bevy of accessories, all with different features taught by the artificers. Angus made himself an armored backpack that would protect his back and chest. It was charmed in a way that, unless they were thrown super super well, the backpack would actually catch projectile weapons and stop them from hitting him. 

He’d wanted to do something with magic too, but while his mind and magical abilities had grown, he was still physically a very little boy who didn’t have very many hit points. 

He called it ‘Shell Game’, because it reminded him of a turtle shell and- no one really let him finish his explanation because they were making fun of Magnus’s 2th necklace. 

Still, he was proud of what he made, just as everyone else was proud of their creations.

* * *

Lup was so insanely proud of her umbrella.  “So  _ this _ is… well, it’s called an Umbra Staff. It consumes the power of defeated magic-users; it’s pretty tight, right?” She smirked at her brother, pure glee in her eyes as she handed him back his glaive. 

“Well, okay, two things— three.” Taako complained. “One: that wasn’t on the list of things that Holdsworth taught us, so I don’t know how you did that. Two: that really hurt. Three: it looks ridiculous, I’m sorry, but you look like a clown with that thing. It is ludicrous.”

The female elf’s smirk didn’t falter. “Yeah. A coo— like a cool clown.” 

“No!” Taako protested with a vehemence that Lup knew meant she looked like the coolest clown ever. “No! Not a cool clown, like a ridiculous clown. Remember Mr. Bing-Bong?”

“Oh, who could forget Mr. Bing-Bong?”

“You look like Mr. Bing-Bong right now. He would get drunk in the middle of the town, and we would all laugh at ’im and throw cheese at ’im, and we hated Mr. Bing-Bong and that’s who you look like: like a bad, drunk clown.” 

There was no doubt, Taako was super jealous of her awesome Umbra-staff. “Well, there’s no accounting for taste.” 

Taako pouted and she grinned. “Don’t look so down, ‘ko. Just cause your thing wasn’t as cool as mine. We can’t all be visionaries. I know what’ll cheer you up. I had some extra time and some assets left, so I turned Angus’s precious silverware into like, super powerful wands.” 

“Why on earth would that make me feel better?” 

“Cause I didn’t tell him.” She laughed as Taako’s eyes lit up. “Wanna help me make Auntie's chowder for dinner and see if we can make him accidentally freeze it?” 

Taako cackled. “See, I knew there was a reason why you’re my favorite, even if you do look like Mr. Bing-Bong.” 

* * *

Angus did  _ not  _ think that was funny. 

Even if he did get a bunch of really sick wands out of it. 

* * *

Angus settled into his seat at their annual brainstorming session and pulled out his notebook. For a few years now at least once a year towards the end of a cycle they would meet and have a bit of a status update, just to determine their progress on ways to defeat the hunger and try to figure out next steps. Taako shooed out the agents of the hunger as Angus turned to a blank page and dated it, but Barry was the first to really take the stage he lifted the brand new wand he had created and created a projection of the Planar System. He started his speech with a quick rundown of the yearly timeline, their arrival, the Light, the Hunger’s scouts, and finally the arrival of the Hunger itself. He reiterated what he had learned in cycle 87, that the Light emitted craveability that called to the Hunger like a beacon. 

“The Hunger’s scouts are  _ attuned _ to it. They’re able to follow it as easy as a path.  _ Unless!” _

The team looked up, all saying as one, “Unless…” 

“Unless we interrupt it.” His projection changed, and the beacon that had been coming from the Light grew weaker. “If we can reduce the signal’s strength to— according to my calculations, about 15% or less— it won’t be able to escape the boundaries of our reality. The Hunger won’t know where to find us. We can hide, wait it out. _ Starve  _ it out.”

And they could  _ do  _ something like that now. They had finished their artificing lessons a few days back, and the hidden knowledge had been more than powerful enough to be used on the light. Lup and Barry explained that whatever the light created would be both incredibly powerful and intensely craveable due to the inherent nature of the light. It could be dangerous, but it would work. The Hunger would be kept at bay. 

They just had to wait for a cycle where they got the Light before the Hunger arrived, which wouldn’t necessarily come any time soon. 

Barry looked around nervously. “So, uh… what do you all think?”

“Well, it’s better than what we had before, which was nothing.” Magnus pointed out. 

“Right,” Taako agreed. “As an improvement on nothing, I’m very high on it.”

Angus thought the situation through carefully. “We would have to try and ensure that the objects, if they’re this craved and powerful, we have to make sure they aren’t… collected. If someone got one and became powerful enough to find and claim the others, the signal could grow strong again if they try to… combine them with magic. But conceptually, we wouldn’t reset after the year was up, we could keep that from happening.” 

Taako looked between Angus and his sister. “So, I’m pretty much for it. Is there… is it gonna be dangerous?”

Lucreita cut in then, concern etched onto her face. “Yeah, I don’t— I don’t know that I wanna be responsible for putting anything  _ dangerous  _ out into the world. Barry, Lup, I— I know you know your stuff, it’s just… the Light is a sickeningly powerful energy source. Any items powered by that energy are going to be… devastating.”

Merle responded, “Well, it’s like the kid said. We could keep an eye on ’em.”

Barry interrupted. “Listen, this, part of this plan is, once we put ’em out there, they’re out there. We have to let them be… craved. Or else it’s not gonna work.”

There was a little bit of back and forth after that, arguments as to whether it was right to put powerful and dangerous relics into the world when it would stop the hunger.

Lucretia, however, had a different idea. “I think I can channel The Light into a spell. A warding spell, to defend against The Hunger’s advances. I’ve been practicing this spell for decades now. A final barrier. With the aid of the Light, I can weave it around an entire plane. And it will be strong enough to keep out  _ everything _ . And that includes The Hunger.” She manipulated the projection until it showed her plan, an opaque barrier over the prime material plane. 

Lup looked like she was going to throw up. “Lucretia, that’s… Let me show you something.” She waved a hand and suddenly there were thousands of little threats of light stretching between all of the planes, and then out of the planes and into the universe beyond. “If that barrier cuts off everything from outside, you risk severing the bonds between this world and the rest of existence. A world cut off like that… I’m, I’m sorry Lucretia, but it… it won’t survive.”

Angus felt himself shudder. He didn’t know much about bond magic, he hadn’t studied it much at all, but he knew it was important. He knew that the planes sustained themselves on bonds, that the Starblaster itself was created using the magic of bonds to power and sustain it. To cut that magic off sounded… horrifyingly stifling and dangerous. Lucretia argued, insisting that they couldn’t know that the bonds would be cut off. She also claimed that she could get rid of the barrier once they had starved the hunger out, but Angus, with his limited knowledge of bond magic, felt a fearful tugging at his gut at the mere suggestion. 

They debated for what felt like hours, until finally Davenport called for it to be put to a vote. Taako unsurprisingly went with Lup’s suggestion, as did Magnus. The fighter pointed out that if the artifacts didn’t work, they could skedaddle next time the Hunger came, but with Lucretia’s plan they didn’t have that option. That convinced the rest of the group, and Angus breathed a sigh of relief that he could agree without actively making an argument against Lucretia. He cared for her very much and she seemed very upset that they weren’t going with her plan, but… bonds were important. 

Once they had voted, Davenport nodded. “Well, it sounds like we have a pretty big majority here. Next cycle that it’s an option, we separate the light.” 

Angus nodded. “Barry said 15% or less. If we each make something, that would be a little less than 13%.” 

Davenport nodded. “Good. That’s good.” 

Conversation dissolved somewhat after that, as people tried to brainstorm their creations and what the next world may be like. Angus idly eavesdropped around the room as he made some notes in his notebook. That was probably why he heard a bit of conversation that he was pretty sure was supposed to be between two people only. 

Magnus leaned close to their chronicler. “Listen if I can real quick, Lucretia; let’s do, here’s the thing, if you think about a logical order, let’s do the seven artifact thing. That doesn’t work, the next time we get the Light of Creation on a future cycle, we can do  _ your  _ thing.”

The woman watched Magnus intently, and Angus could swear something almost popped up over her head saying ‘Lucretia will remember that’.

Lup, proving that she had been eavesdropping as well, added. “Lucretia, I promise you, I  _ swear, _ on my life and my second life—this is gonna work. We’re nearly done, okay?”

Finally the woman nodded. “…Okay.”

She still didn’t look entirely happy, so Angus snuck out to grab a quick bowl of her favorite ice cream. A small smile twitched at the woman’s lips as Angus put the bowl down in front of her. The boy grinned back and handed her a spoon with a dramatic flourish, only to jump back with a yelp as fire shot out of the spoon and melted his peace offering. 

“Dang it Lup!” He shouted as the twins cackled. 

Oh well. It made Lucretia laugh a little at least. 

* * *

Angus blinked at the Light of Creation hovering just a few feet away. It had touched down so close it had practically landed on their ship. They had  _ days  _ before the Hunger’s scouts would come, and the Light was already in their grasp. And the world… the world was so perfect. This wasn’t the animal kingdom, or the world with the judges, or even the beach world. This world was… populated, and populated with all different sorts of humanoids. Barry and Lup gushed in excitement at the variety, claiming it was exactly the same as back on their home planet. 

Merle had even claimed that the flora and fauna were nearly identical. (Angus had mostly scrubbed that conversation from his mind, especially as Lucretia had put her hands over his ears at one point, but he got the highlights). The others mentioned that the sky was a different color, and that it had one sun instead of 2, but honestly… his memories of their home planet were… fuzzy. He remembered the people, sorta. Some of the kids at school, his parents… kinda. It had been 100 years ago. Nobody remembered much about their life before they were 10. He hadn’t really… thought about their home planet in a while.

Anyway, if the others said it was similar to their home planet, he believed them. 

The world seemed perfect. It had technological advancements that Barry and Lup cooed over, even planar research. There were schools of science and wizardry, tons of fun food and music. Merle even met dwarves that were  _ relatives  _ of him back at home. For the light to land here it was… it was almost too perfect, but also… also it was kinda nice that the universe gave them a break considering all that they had been doing for it. 

They rushed to use the lessons from the artificers to turn the light into individual artifacts. Lup and Barry split the Light for them, and for the next 24 hours they worked to create 8 incredibly mighty relics. 

They were powerful, and they did have the promised craveability. Each relic gave off a thrall that through exposure with the Light they were able to resist, though it certainly wasn’t easy to do so. 

Angus smiled as he looked over the individual relics with the others, the entire team had sleepy smiles on their faces, eyes bright above dark bags. 

“Guys… we did it.” Angus breathed. 

“Maybe.” Lucretia said, still looking uncertain even as she ran her hands over her staff proudly. 

Angus touched the hat he created. He’d had years to think about it, but he was still kind of embarrassed about his choice of relic. He just… he had spent quite a lot of time lonely. He didn’t remember much about his original home, but he remembered that, and it was hard to make friends as a 10 year old who lived 100 years and would never see anyone again after a year was up. So, he had made a hat that would make anyone want to be the friend of the wearer. His intimate knowledge of enchantment magic had helped, just as Davenport’s illusions had helped with the Oculus and Lup’s evocation had helped with the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet, and… ect. 

They waited, day after day after day. Taako, Angus, and Lup cast blink almost obsessively, but the scouts never showed. Finally, after a week they allowed themselves to accept the truth. It had worked. They’d done it. They had a party to celebrate. 

Taako made his famous elderflower macarons, Barry played some major tunes. Merle stayed on the dance floor all night, though it was always full of happy, victorious people as they cheered and laughed. They had  _ done  _ it. 

They soon scattered the artifacts, all to different places in different ways. Taako dropped his down a well, Magnus gave it to some kind folks, Merle tied his around a statue. Angus gave his to a lonely looking little tiefling girl who was sitting all alone at recess. 

At first… at first things had seemed good. For  _ months  _ things had seemed good. The Hunger’s scouts never arrived. They were starting to tentatively make plans as though this world was their new home, as if the world was permanent. They made friends. There was hope, things seemed so  _ good. _

But then… then they caused a war. No, that wasn’t right. They had caused the war the second they released the relics. Every single party in the world, every guild, every kingdom wanted the Grand Relics they had released. 

They started seeing the effects soon, too soon. Whole cities would become nothing more than black burt circles. Impossible monsters would appear, the stuff of nightmares realized by the Oculus. Horrendous storms grew from the gaia staff and a child accidentally turned their entire town into peppermint. That lonely little girl that Angus had gifted his helmet to became a dictator over three towns, surrounded by an army that could literally do her no harm nor deny her anything. 

The relics… they had saved their world from the Hunger, but they had doomed it as well. They had to watch the world be harmed by these relics, had to hear of people being killed for and by the items that  _ they  _ had released. 

It was horrific, to the point that when a year had passed and they arrived at the date where the hunger usually arrived, their supposed celebration was anything but festive. Barry and Taako played music, but only Merle bothered to dance. Everyone else just kinda stood in stressed clusters, talking in tight voices. 

Angus sat on a couch, blinking blankly and clenching and unclenching his fists. There was little comfort in the news that the others were taking the whole… situation as poorly as him. Lucretia moved to sit next to him, distracted and worried. Angus tried to muster up a smile, but it was weak. "It isn't… as much of party as we were hoping for, huh?" He said weakly. 

"The relics aren't as much of a success as we were hoping for." The woman responded distractedly and Angus winced, thinking back to the last horror the Deerstalker of Devotion had caused, something too terrible for him to think in words.

Her gaze cleared a bit and she looked guilty. "I'm sorry Angie, I didn't… I didn't mean that the way I said it." 

"No, it's… that was fair." He said, looking down at his hands and wringing them, fighting back tears. 

"Can we-we can talk about something else.” The woman offered, though her face stayed pinched and tight. “The publishing house just started printing your second Caleb Cleveland book, they think it'll do even better than the first." 

Angus forced a smile. "That's good. If we do one to two a year like our current schedule has that should give us enough for almost 20 years. It should be enough for us to make a living even without having to sell our treasures.Thanks for being my ghost writer, I don't think they would have taken me seriously." He looked back to his hands. "Do you think-will you- am I going to have to enroll in a school?"

Lucretia froze, clearly not expecting the question. "Do you… want to?" 

He shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't… there was no point, you know, before. History and math and stuff, it was different for every world. But if this is… if this is where we end up then I probably should, right? Get some kind of… of diploma." 

She hummed. "We won't force you, but… maybe you could make some friends, get to know people longer than a year." 

Angus shrugged. He didn't know that he was particularly good at that.

He wouldn't mind trying though. He would actually like that very much.

Lucretia though, she was distracted again. "With this war though… with this war you still wouldn't be getting a  _ normal _ childhood. You and every friend you make will have to be looking over your shoulder wondering if some relic was going pop up to end everything. You-you deserve the chance to live a normal life. You shouldn't have to live wondering if some insanely powerful relic is going to just, destroy everything. No one should." 

Angus swallowed thickly. Some party. 

* * *

Angus clutched his head in his hands as he read over a newspaper detailing the most recent incident with the Deerstalker of Devotion. A cult leader had thousands following them before a sniper had taken them out with a crossbow far enough away to be out of its effects. Supposedly the bowman had taken it, but no one knew where he was now. Angus was sure he’d show up with a new cult, or band of thieves, or some of the worse things that he’d seen. 

The boy shuddered to himself, peeking out between fingers to make sure that his door was closed and no one would see his breakdown. He didn’t think anyone would blame him, after all they had all had… weird moments after the end of the year, dealing with the realization that this was it, that this one was permanent. Taako ranted about math at odd hours, Merle spent more time with increasingly odd plants, Lucretia had started writing more again. 

That was just the effects of dealing with a permanent world too, that wasn't even going into the relics, the poison that they had brought into this world. They had been in this 'cycle' for about 16 months now. It had been half a year since the beginnings of the Relic wars, and they seemed to just be growing worse and worse. 

With an angry grunt, the boy pushed himself out of his seat and unceremoniously shoved the newspaper into a drawer of his desk, alongside dozens of others. 

He stalked across the room and got on his tiptoes to grab a box off of one of his shelves. For the past 100 years he’d had to get a stool out to reach this shelf, but apparently he was destined a growth spurt in early summer of his 11th year. Who knew? 

Though, whether he could actually grab anything or not was touch and go with how badly his hands trembled. 

He’d overheard Lucretia mentioning the realization that they were going to start aging again, and how odd that would be. They had no  _ idea _ . He had been the same height for 100 years, and now, now he could suddenly reach the higher shelf, see over the windows, and touch Magnus’s shoulder without jumping. He was 11, going on 12 for the first time in 100 years. He wouldn’t go back to being 10 in a few months. He had gotten his first pimple a few days back. He was going to go through puberty soon, after  _ 100 years  _ of- of just not. 

He was terrified. 

That wasn’t important though. More than that, it wasn’t something he could change. He would just, he would deal with it as it came. 

He hoped it got easier. 

Finally the boy was able to grab the box with his trembling hands and pull it down. It was long, but not especially deep or wide. It was the perfect size for a scroll. 

Angus opened it and ran his eyes over the map within. No one would be able to tell it was a map from looking at it of course, it looked like a blank sheet of paper with a border, only by following carefully encrypted instructions could the map be revealed. 

He had actually been working on making coded clues for a few years now, coming up with riddles and trivia questions related to their travels that would reveal instructions for creating the lines of the map. When it seemed that they had succeeded in defeating the Hunger, he had started using local maps to find a cool secret hangout for the team to meet up in, and had put the actual lines on the map with the correct enchantments. It was a tricky puzzle, only his family should be able to solve it, and they all had a part. Davenport would be needed to create an illusion to make the water masses, Lucretia’s shields needed to be utilized to mark down all of the towns. Merle’s favorite Zone of Truth spell was needed for topographical lines. Lup and Taako had to work together in evocation and transmutation to reveal the hidden ink for the main path lines. Finally, a necrotic spell that Barry invented would reveal a network of lines that acted as a guide to fold around one of Magnus’s ducks and finally reveal the actual map. It had taken some work, but he was proud of it. 

It was supposed to be a fun scavenger hunt to reveal at the party, but… no one had really seemed in the mood. 

It was probably too hard anyway, he had gotten a little ambitious. This was exactly what he needed now though. He had a theory. The Relic had to be craved, to be wanted. They didn’t necessarily need to be  _ obtained  _ or even  _ used _ as long as they were still desired. 

He could hide the relic, hide it in this hidden cave in the middle of land so inhospitable that even insects gave it a wide berth. If he sent out this map, distributed it with the clear proclamation that the Deerstalker of Desire was the prize, he just  _ knew  _ people would look. They would try and decode it, they would work on the map for hours or days, with the relic at the forefront of their minds. 

The relic would be desired, obsessed over, but only his family working together should be able to actually find it. 

The boy took a deep breath and packed the box. He also put in a few changes of clothes, a blank notebook inscribed with his name, and the silverware he and Taako had fought over, just in case he needed a few extra wands. (Besides, nothing else gave him as much of a feeling of safety and family than that silverware. He only had to think of it and his mind turned to home. He would need a bit of home.) 

He tucked all of it away into a large backpack, not the Shell Game, just a normal backpack because he didn’t want to have anything that would identify him too obviously. He should tell the others his plan. He knew he should, they were his family and they loved him. They might even agree that it’s a good idea but… but how much better would it be to tell them about it once he knew it  _ worked _ ? They could do that with some of the other relics too, maybe occasionally solving a riddle or two, just to make sure people stayed horny for it. It could work, but he wanted to be sure first. 

He… he also kind of wanted some alone time to deal with the changes his body was going though. If he reacted to all changes as poorly as he did the growth spurt… He didn’t want the others to have to see that. 

Besides, he had spent almost every cycle wandering around the worlds exploring. Why should this one be any different? 

Angus got back on his tiptoes to pull out some good parchment for his goodbye note, hands shaking again. 

Why indeed. 

* * *

Roughly a month and a half later, the map he had created appeared  _ everywhere _ . They were in each tavern, guildehouse, and adventuring locale around the world. The best riddle crackers, cartographers, and scientists were studying it to find the solution. 

Seven of them ended up on the Starblaster. 

“It’s gotta be Ango, right?” Magnus asked with wide eyes as he brandished the map. “I mean, look at some of these questions. ‘The worst rebound team in any reality’. That’s gotta be him.” 

Lucretia hummed as she scrawled a note on her copy of the map. “That was one of the easy ones. See if you can get 4 through 9.” 

“Luce…” Magnus groaned. 

“This is Agnes’s work all right.” Taako said with a drawl. “So smart that it’s super annoying, that’s pumpkin all the way.” Lup snorted and gave him a high five. 

Magnus insisted, “So if we solve this, then we’ll find him!” 

Davenport frowned. “No, if we solve this, we find his relic. I highly doubt Angus is still there.” 

“But why isn’t he  _ here _ ?” Barry asked. “We haven’t seen him in over a month, he doesn’t send cards, or call our stones, or write. This is the most we’ve heard from or seen of him since he left.” 

“And we’ve been looking.” Merle grumbled. “I feel like my feet are going to fall off looking for the kid.” 

Lucretia hummed. “Angie is pretty good at staying hidden. Do you remember the time you challenged him to hide and seek? We didn’t see him for the rest of the cycle.” 

“That wasn’t fair, it was Hamster World and he could crawl in the tubes easier.” 

“The point is,” Davenport cut in, “If Angus doesn’t want to be found, he won’t be.” He paused a moment. “That doesn’t mean we won’t look. Everyone, look through the questions and see if you can solve anything. I’m going to see if there’s any pattern to how the maps are distributed. Let’s bring our kid home.” 

* * *

Angus’s pants ended an inch above his ankles now. Apparently, it was a  _ big  _ growth spurt.

He should go back, should go  _ home _ , he knew it. The gold he had packed was all gone, his spare clothes now so tattered that they had been abandoned. The only things left in his pack was his notebook and silverware. 

He would be safer back home. They would be so happy to see him. Taako would make his favorite meal, Lucretia would talk about how his latest Caleb Cleveland book had sold out almost immediately. There would be hugs, and teasing and goofs about his height and Magnus would try to play keep away but Angus might be tall enough to reach now and they would laugh about  _ that  _ and he would reach all of his shelves and... 

And he wasn’t quite ready yet. After today, after today he would go. After today he would go back and, and actually face the challenges that came with settling into a world permanently. He would go home and hope he wasn’t in trouble for going against what Lup and Barry said and interfering with his relic. 

After today, because he was  _ so close  _ to collecting a second one. 

It had been hard to get the Deerstalker of Devotion back. Angus had only succeeded because his friends were so hardworking, so prone to overworking and burning themselves out, that he had long lost any hesitation against casting Sleep on people he loved. He’d been lucky, he knew he had been, but he… he was pretty sure it had worked. His maps were spreading over the planet, unsolved but studied. He was pretty sure he'd even seen a cartoon version drawn on a kids menu as a fast food joint.

His relic was desired, but it was safe. 

He could do it again, he would need a new map, but he could worry about that later. For now, he had very good leads that said that the man who was trying to steal the Oculus would pass by this very stretch of woods on his way home. (Maybe he would even do it just once more before going home. A city called Cordelia had been destroyed by the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet a few weeks back and he  _ knew  _ what the deaths of those people was doing to Lup. Maybe, maybe he would wait until then to go home, to face their questions and worry and scolding and love). 

He didn’t have to wait long before his target appeared. His trap had barely been waiting an hour before a man dressed in all black with a monocle walked right under the tree he was crouched in. The man stepped into just the right place and Angus reacted, pulling the rope to release the cage. Apparently however, the man had already put the oculus to enough use that he was practiced with it, for he didn’t hesitate before imagining and creating a device that bent the bars enough for him to comfortably step out. 

“Show yourself!” He cried. “Face me, we’ll see if you are a match for  _ my  _ power.” 

Angus rolled his eyes something about power made people shout such cliches 

He jumped out of his tree and cast ‘Power Word Sleep’, but the man resisted. The child grimaced as he landed. It was so hard to cast spells on those using the relics, it seemed they could resist anything. He’d had to cast the spell on the Deerstalker wearer several different nights before it finally stuck. He'd hope this would be easier, since it wasn't as mind focused. 

So much for that. 

The stranger took one look at Angus, one look at the almost-12 year old with a fork for a wand and a stubborn expression and laughed. 

“You? You think you can beat me? Really?” He sounded incredulous, but Angus didn’t feel fear until the glass of the Oculus began to swirl with power. “You’re nothing but a _**literal baby**_.” 

Power shot out of the relic and the villain walked away with a swagger in his step. In the clearing by the warped cage was only an infant swaddled in oversized clothes that once felt too short. Propped against his backpack and lacking any motor skills, the literal baby could do nothing but let out a loud wail until kind-hearted adventurers heard his cry and diverted from their quest for the illusion relic. The adventurers brought him to a nearby orphanage, which had no way of identifying him beyond the silverware he came with, and the name Angus on the first page of a notebook. 

Angus was left with nothing to do but suffer the humiliation of infancy, eagerly awaiting the day that he had enough motor skills to somehow contact his family. He really should have just gone home. 

* * *

Almost two years to the day that they had been on Faerun, on Davenport’s birthday, several things happened at once, as things are wont to do. On a hidden spaceship that had been a home for a century, a gnome and a dwarf paused their game as they realized that they didn’t know their opponent. The dwarf stared blankly, comprehensively, as the gnome collapsed, only able to repeat his name. Over. And Over. And Over, as static filled their minds. 

An elf, also on the ship that housed his family, pushed an unfamiliar man overboard to his death without understanding why. The man had begged for it, but he wasn’t making sense. Who was ‘she’? Where was he? The man collapsed, holding his head as he stared at unfamiliar surroundings and was swallowed by static. 

A human man took a present to a dear friend, in the hopes of putting a smile on her face. Instead, he walked in to see a journal in the arms of a creature that consumed knowledge, and he collapsed in horror as the friend rushed to him, babbling promises he could no longer understand. As she spoke, every word became static.

In an orphanage in a small farming village, a typically well-behaved infant suddenly  _ screamed _ . Nurses and caretakers flocked to the usually quiet child, but he cried and cried, voice growing louder with each horrific moment. He had to cry loudly, it was the only way to drown out the static.

In an umbrella, a lich lay weak and defeated, hoping that her brother would come to her soon, knowing that he would find her and rescue her, she just had to wait. She did not know how very long the wait would be. She heard no static. 

* * *

Not all exits are made equal.

Lucretia did what she could to make her loved ones happy, to keep them safe while she did what she  _ had  _ to do. 

Merle was led to a beach, a place she knew he would fit perfectly. He had a home, and a community. He had a life that he could love, that he did love. 

Magnus's home was easy to find. She set him up in the most prestigious woodworking shop in this whole world. His home was cozy, with plenty of space to work on his craft. 

She struggled with Taako. He would not be content with the simple, quaint home that she had secured for the others, nor should he be. Taako was amazing, he should be seen, his talent and charisma should be recognized and seen. So she found him a stagecoach, and set up everything he would need to create a travelling cooking show. Taako was beloved, just as she knew he would be.

Davenport’s predicament broke her heart. She had tried to keep her erasure only about the mission, she didn’t want them to lose more of themselves than they  _ had  _ too. But Davenport’s life had been his mission. In erasing that… it erased him, until most days, he could only say his name. She kept him with her, she would protect them, just as she was protecting  _ everyone.  _

Barry was gone. She had thought that he was on the ship when she fed the journals to Fisher, but no matter how hard she looked he was nowhere to be found. Taako certainly hadn’t been in any state to answer her questions. He could be anywhere, wandering alone and confused. The scarier option was that he was a lich, someone who would remember just as she did. She would have to keep him at arm’s length, it was too dangerous to do otherwise. 

Angus and Lup… were just gone. They had both disappeared even before she had fed the journal to the voidfish, and for all that she did, all of her work, she just couldn’t find them. She searched so hard, but they had disappeared. If Lup was gone, it was another reason for Barry and Taako to forget. She could hardly stand the thought of losing Lup, how could she condemn them to that fate? 

And Angus… she was so scared for Angus. She had taken some of his notes to erase along with her journals. It was just too much of a risk that something would stick in his bright mind, assuming that his mind still existed. He was always too brave, too excited. It was hard for him to remember that even after living 110 years, he was still in the fragile body of a little boy. He’d spent most of his life with death as a only a minor, temporary inconvenience, and it worried her that he may not be able to break out of that mindset. 

She feared the worst for him, and  _ hated  _ that if he was still alive, she was erasing their time together. If he was still out there, she was leaving him an orphan with only the memory of parents who never had time for him and a boarding school with more bullies than friends. 

She hadn’t known the effects of the Oculus, couldn’t know that the boy, having lost over 90% of his life and reverted to an infant, would lose even the bit of life that he could have remembered. Similar to Davenport, Angus’s life had become the mission. He'd barely remembered his life before it by the 60th cycle. When the mission was lost… so was he. 

She looked for him, oh how she looked. As the years went by she constantly searched for an overly intelligent 12 year old, 13 year old, 15, 18… she heard nothing. When she had heard of a young detective investigating the people she had erased, she had been  _ overjoyed,  _ she had found him at last. She had called off the search when the news got back that the detective was only 9 or 10. It had been roughly10 years since they had sent their horrible relics into the world. Angus would be in his early 20s by her count, it couldn’t be him. 

But somehow it was, somehow he was  _ here. _ So was Barry, and Taako, Merle, Magnus and Devenport. Save Lup, her entire family had returned. 

Unfortunately, so had the Hunger.


	18. Story and Song Pt 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming to the end soon guys. Thank you so much for sticking this long and reading! I'm glad that you enjoyed it! Only one chapter after this one, so it may be a bit before I post the next one, it's looking a little long. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!!!!
> 
> Also, just curious, I had a lot of little nods to the show and foreshadowing and ideas when writing this. If I were to do something like an 'authors commentary' where I post snippets of the story and point out stuff and ideas, would anyone be interested in reading that?

Angus rolled over, gagging on dry heaves until a bit of bile slipped out. He shuddered, wiping his mouth with a shirtsleeve. “Pan, Lucretia. If you thought my first childhood was bad you should have seen this one.”

The woman let out a soft, wounded sound, and Angus knew he would feel guilty about that later. For the moment he was still reeling from the memories invading his mind. He allowed himself to collapse into a seated position, careful to avoid his mess, and couldn’t find it in himself to move beyond that. He panted heavily, head throbbing in pain and arms shaking. Glancing around the room, he saw that while most of the others had managed to keep their feet, none of them were actually faring any better than he. He was- he was overwhelmed.

He was a street child who’d been alone all his life, solving crimes to survive. 

He was a stowaway who’d helped save worlds and was surrounded by people who loved him. 

He’d just started learning magic.

He’d learned from some of the best magical minds to have ever existed. 

His favorite books were the Caleb Cleveland novels. 

He  _ wrote  _ the Caleb Cleveland novels. (Well, that makes his fan-like devotion pretty embarrassing now, didn’t it. He hoped Taako, Merle and Magnus didn’t remember that detail. That would give them ammunition for years.) 

He was an unathletic nerd who relied on his crossbow to survive. 

He was still a nerd, but one who had been trained by an excellent fighter for decades. 

He needed a nap. 

He  _ really  _ needed a nap.

He wouldn’t be getting one.

Outside the windows of the dome, he could see people running, scrambling for help and cover as the Hunger’s tendrils pounded to the ground and attacked. Large, shadowy beams careened into the dome, attacking with a furious pounding stucco. The Hunger had found them. The end of it all was upon the world. 

Again. 

Taako broke from the daze of receiving their hidden memories and immediately moved, pointing the Umbra Staff (Lup’s weapon! How could he forget Lup? How could he forget any of them?) at Lucretia. His voice shook, but his hand remained steady. 

“Ten. Nine.” 

“Taako, I know you’re upset—” The woman tried to protest, but the elf didn’t slow his count. 

“Eight.” 

“Listen-” 

Magnus finally got to his feet as well, pointing a... Where the heck did he get  _ that  _ sword? 

“Seven.” Taako continued. 

“Please listen to me, please—”

“Six.”

Angus was still collapsed, still unable to move thanks to the killer headache. Besides… he wasn’t sure where he would stand even if he had been able to move. 

“Please stop— okay.”

“What are you doing?” Merle asked, confused, frantic, his voice almost begging for things to start making sense. 

Angus didn’t think that would happen for a while. 

“Five.” Taako ignored the dwarf, still pinning Lucretia under a harsh glare. 

“The chance to explain yourself was… mmm about a dozen memories ago.” Magnus added, his sword steady as well. 

“And honestly, 7 seconds ago, I’m doing this cool countdown.” Taako said before shouting, “You took everything from me!” 

Angus forced himself to his feet at that, and though he didn’t want to point anything dangerous at someone he still loved, his voice was firm. “From me too, Lucretia.” 

The hand that wasn’t gripping the Umbra staff brandished towards Angus, as if in support of his words. 

“I know that things went wrong, I know I shouldn’t have kept you all in the dark for as long as I did. I swear, I had no idea how arduous a task this was gonna be, I know I have a lot to atone for. I- I didn’t even know you were  _ alive  _ Angus, I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself for that. I looked for you for so long, I never stopped looking. But please, just—I’m begging you, let me finish this. And then we can talk about it.”

“... fine.” The elf dropped his weapon, but the blank, defeated tone of his voice was somehow more terrifying. 

Merle gave a panicked laugh. “What are you finishing?”

“I’m gonna cast my barrier around this world and stop The Hunger once and for all!” 

Angus closed his eyes, pained. He knew that was what she was trying. It wouldn’t work. That was why they had, why they had done all of this. 

“But aren’t they already here?” Merle asked, voice shaking. Angus thought of Mavis and Mookie, the dwarve’s children down on the planet somewhere. 

“It’s not-” Lucretia protested. “It’s not too late, I can still— I can still keep them out.”

Barry argued, voice desperate as he knew she wouldn’t be swayed by any argument he could make. “Lucretia, you can’t do this! We told you why the barrier’s not gonna work. It’s going to sever every bond this world’s ever had. Please, I— I know why you did what you did, but you just— you can’t do this!” 

“Bonds are  _ important  _ Lucretia.” Angus added his voice. His time alone had driven the point home in a deeply personal way. “You can’t cut them off that will be worse than the relics, it could be worse than the  _ Hunger.” _

Taako… Taako just deflated. His voice sounded broken, devastatingly broken. “You know, honestly? Do whatever you want. I don’t care anymore.”

Angus finally moved. He walked to the elf and wrapped him in a hug. He only came up to about the elf’s waist, hut he did what he could. Taako didn’t respond beyond bringing up a hand and settling it on Angus’s head. 

It was almost worse than if he had pushed the boy away. That would have been almost normal. This was, this was an empty Taako. It hadn’t happened often over the years that one of the twins would die without the other, but when it had… it was bad. 

This was worse. 

Lucretia’s voice sounded choked as she begged the despondent elf. “Taako, please just trust me. It’s— what we did to this world, it— you know it wasn’t right. We made a promise almost a hundred years ago—”

Magnus interrupted her. “Lucretia, do you realize that— you remember that Taako just realized he lost his sister. This isn’t the time for you to explain yourself! Taako, listen. I know this is tough but… you found her! Maybe not how you expected to, but when you weren’t looking you found her. That’s the connection— that’s how strong your connection is to Lup. She’s still helping you, you’re still working together! And she wouldn’t want you to give up!”

That was right, the umbrella. Taako had found it, found her somehow. But she was gone now, leaving Taako with only her weapon. Her weapon which… had blasted her name into a library wall somehow... 

He had been there when she made it, the staff was incredibly powerful, it ate magic wands for crying out loud. It wasn’t… it wasn’t supposed to cast spells by itself though. Something nagged at him, the writing on the library wall. Even if they found Lup’s body, she was a Lich, she should’t be dead. She-

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do.” Taako interrupted the boy’s thoughts. “And I’m on board for whatever the plan is. But understand this: I have nothing. The world is ending, and I. Don’t. Care.” The elf’s hand dropped off Angus’s head, and he disentangled himself from the child’s grasp.

Angus swallowed, fighting back tears. He wanted to shout at Lucretia, point that this was what happened when you severed bonds. People… stopped. The woman didn’t see it, instead arguing with Lup’s own words on the robot planet, claiming they couldn’t destroy a world to stop the Hunger. It had no effect on Taako. Angus didn’t think it would. 

Davenport shook his head and looked up from where he was kneeling. Asking Lucretia where the ship was hidden and insisting that they leave. He turned back to the group. “Barry, Taako, we leave here and Lup comes back.”

Finally, that pulled Taako from his daze. “What?” He asked, voice softly hopeful. 

“We leave here and we start a new cycle and we’re all back together again. That’s how it works, remember?”

Merle shook his head, looking incredulous as the situation finally really set in. “Okay ya’know, we can’t run away this time, dude! I mean! I mean, Taako’s life has gone haywire, okay that’s fine! But I got kids! And you know— Magnus, we got all these people relying on us.” 

Angus felt a chill going through him. He didn’t want to leave. He- he had friends here, people he had been looking forward to seeing again. He had Klarg, and the Boyland family, and Mavis and Mookie and the nice Militia captain who gave him his book, and the finance who had paid for him to find the missing people and- “We- we can’t go! We can’t do this to them,” He gestured around, indicating that the whole world was ‘them’. “We- we need to help. Please.” 

Davenport sighed, sounding truly sorrowful. “I’m sorry, kid, but it’s… it’s— this is— this is the end of everything if we get caught up here. We just— Lucretia, where’s the Starblaster?” 

The woman didn’t answer. She just continued channeling the spell, feeding power into her staff. 

Merle stood his ground, refusing to abandon the world to the Hunger. Even if the others returned the ship, as Magnus said it only took one escape for them all to survive, he wasn’t leaving. Even if Pan was no longer listening, and he couldn’t even heal the wound on Killian’s arm. 

Carey stood from where she was crouched beside her girlfriend and sent Magnus a firm look. “Listen, running? Away? That’s not how we do things here in the B.O.B. Now everybody just stop and just explain what is going on so we know how to—” 

She never got to finish her sentence, as the ceiling above exploded. A roar filled the room, making the ground shake with sound as glass rained upon them. Angus dove away, narrowly avoiding the shards as he scrambled to grab his wand and crossbow. He had each in one hand as he rolled back to his feet, the weapon of his former life and and current life both ready. 

At the center of the huge chamber sat exactly what he had expected to see. 

A huge, black-opal tendril was fastened to the ground, and as Angus watched as 5 formidable-looking figures began to emerge from it. That… okay that part was new. 

The figures were the same black-opal material as the rest of the Hunger, and the first to make it out fully was a massive four-armed skeleton. The two women Angus hadn’t officially met shared a glance. 

“Dibs!” Killian called, and the two rushed for the skeleton without hesitation.

They hadn’t yet reached the skeleton before the second figure escaped the black tendril and a centaur ran to attack Lucretia. The centaur bounced off of her shield, four legs and two arms flailing as it crashed on top of Davenport. Barry ran to help the man, but Angus was distracted as the final 3 figures, a floating hand, a humanoid figure with a cylindrical head, and a rhinoceros, emerged from the tendril. 

Magnus pointed his sword at the rhino. “Dibs!” 

Angus fell into the dueling position Taako had taught him month ago (decades ago), and stepped beside the elf. They shared a nod, and Taako spun towards the hand. “Hey! Give me five!” He shouted and a fire spell shot from his wand, enveloping the hend in flames. It writhed a bit, but the spell got its attention, and it shot towards Taako in an open fisted grab, as if attempting to pick him up. The elf was able to leap out of the way, but the wind caused by the movement was enough to douse the flames. 

Chaos surged around them as they fought the hunger, something that they had been doing for a century but suddenly seemed much more literal than it ever had before. Carey and Killian grappled with the skeleton as Merle attacked the humanoid figure with his hammer. Angus caught sight of Magnus jumping onto the back of the rhino, and somehow  _ staying on  _ as is careened around the room. He cast Lightning Bolt at the hand and cursed under his breath when it deftly dodged the majority of the blast and the bolt set a bunch of furniture in the corner on fire.

He was out of practice. 

Taako had evidently stopped messing around, as he cast a Wall of Fire which severed the entire room in half. The humanoid with the semitars moved quickly and managed to dodge the firewall, but the hand was once more engulfed in flames. 

“Hey hand!” Taako shouted. “Down low! Too Slow!” 

It was not slow. 

It swung at the them, Taako and Angus, and while the flip wizard had no trouble jumping out of the way, Angus was not as lucky. He cried out as he tumbled through the air, landing on his wand and snapping it in two as he tumbled into a pile of furniture. He moaned as he finally stopped bouncing, the corner of a desk digging into his back. He scrambled to his feet as quickly as possible to help, though by the time he emerged from the pile, Merle apparently had been trampled by the rhino next to a broom, Magnus’s grandpa’s knife was sticking out of one of the rhino’s eye, the skeleton had lost a few arms, and Magnus was jumping off the rhino. 

The rhino ran into the wall of fire as he watched. “Hey hand!”  _ Magnus  _ shouted. “You’re too slow!” 

“Already did that!” Taako yelled as the horn broke through the wall of fire and impaled the hand. 

“Oh, you already did— oh, sorry, Taako!”

The hand crumbled and dissolved into black ash, and the rhino shook it’s head and sneezed black billows of smokey ash. Angus shook himself from the scene to start looking frantically for his wand, hoping against hope that it was salvageable.

“Hey, Magnus?” Taako yelled as Angus looked. 

“Yeah?” 

“That was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. Hands down.”

Apparently, the rhino didn’t like puns, as it charged at Taako as Magnus parried sword-guys’s attack. The beast caught Taako right in his chest, sending the elf flying through the air and making him lose his grip on the Umbra Staff. 

Angus scrambled for Lup’s creation, feeling a warm zing as his fingers closed over it. He hesitated, Lup might not want him messing with her stuff. But she wasn’t here to ask permission so instead he turned to Taako. “Is this okay, sir?”

“Yeah, go for it!” The man yelled from where he’d been thrown, and Angus pointed the warming staff at the rhino. 

He cast Fireball, thinking that it was only appropriate to use Lup’s wand for an evocation spell, but what erupted from the umbrella was  _ far  _ more powerful than anything that he could have accomplished, even at his prime. The ball flew through the room, absolutely demolishing the rhino in a burst of heat that made his take several steps back in attempt to evade the auxiliary heat. 

Angus looked up at Taako. “Sir, I— that wasn’t me! I didn’t— I didn’t cast that, sir! I—I’m not powerful enough to cast that, not at evocation!”

Their eyes connected, and he could see Taako come to the exact same realization as him. Lup was a Lich, she shouldn't have disappeared, even if she did die. Her body had been found beside the Umbra Staff. The Umbra Staff, which consumed magical enemies. 

The Umbra Staff, which had written her name and cast her favorite spells at will. 

The Umbra Staff, which they just saw  _ eat a Lich _ . 

" _ I  _ didn't do that." Angus repeated. 

"I know." Taako replied, and Angus knew that he did.

For a moment, Angus considered breaking the staff himself. Now that he remembered her, he missed Lup so much that it  _ hurt.  _ He didn't, didn't see any of the IPRE team as substitute parents per say, but she was… she was the favorite Aunt that you tell all your secrets to. She had dried his tears and gotten him into trouble and made him laugh and taught him magic.

She was- he looked up to her. She was his role model. 

But she was Taako's world. 

He tossed the elf the staff and smiled with a ferocity that he couldn't name when Taako didn't hesitate, snapping the umbrella over one knee so that it broke in two. 

It was like a bomb went off. A sonic boom flashed through the room, sending up a wave of energy through the room with Taako at its center. Angus fell back into the furniture as the wave passed over him, though Taako was sent flying through the air until he landed a few yards away. Red smoke formed, leaking from the two broken halves of the staff twining around the black tendril that the figures had come from. Suddenly from the smoke came fireworks, a splendorous display of orange, yellow and pink explosions that lit up the room as they took chunks out of the tendril. Angus grinned broadly, wildly. That was Lup alright. 

A white hot explosion rocked the room, and Angus was forced to shut his eyes against the bright light. When he hesitantly blinked them open again, all of their enemies were gone though the explosion had been expertly shaped to avoid the IPRE team and bureau members. In the place where tendril once stood was a Lich, phantasmal and resplendent in a red robe. In each skeletal hand burned a small fire as the figure hovered. 

Lup turned to her brother. “You’re dating the Grim Reaper?!”

Angus blinked. “ _ You’re  _ dating Mr.Kravitz?” 

Magnus, who had been cheering, turned to Angus. “You met Kravitz?” 

“Yeah, on a case. When did  _ you _ meet him?” 

“Oh, um, we helped him defeat a Legion of souls on Lucas’s Taurmaline Castle in the Sky. It was an adventure, he tried to kill us, Merle lost an arm… you know, the usual.” Then he turned to Taako. “You’re dating Kravitz?” 

“When did that happen?” Merle muttered, but Taako only had eyes for his sister. 

“Well, I knew. You could probably tell, but I knew the whole time.” The elf bluffed, taking a step towards the Lich form. “I just didn’t want to break your cool staff ‘cause I knew you’d be mad.” 

Angus laughed, joyous and victorious. 

“Yeah, I knew you’d figure it out eventually.” Lup answered, and turned and pointed at Angus. "You though, I expected you to get it a lot sooner Mickey-Dee. I literally spelled it out for you. With fire.” 

Taako interrupted. “Oh, no, I knew, I mean I knew. For sure I knew.” 

“Like from the very beginning? You think?” Merle asked. 

“Oh, yeah. Right away.”

“You always had that little glint in your eye.” 

If a Lich could roll their eyes, Lup did. “Well, why didn’t you let me out sooner, dingus?” 

“Well, I didn’t remember you existed, goofus.”

“And I remembered even less than Taako.” Angus chirped. “So I think that gets me a pass. I at least figured out Lup was a name.” Kinda. He figured out that he couldn’t remember it was a name, that was close enough. 

Barry was shaking as he looked at his love, back in his life if not necessarily in the flesh. “I— I knew I’d see you again, I… I wanna… I’m gonna— I’m gonna blow myself up just so I can be a lich and h-hold you again. H— hold on.”

Lup laughed. “Don’t blow yourself up, babe, I’m sure your beautiful body’s gonna get killed by the Hunger soon enough.”

Angus shuddered as the necromancer described how hard it was after she had disappeared, realizing how close they had come to truly losing Barry for good. 

Lucretia ogled at the reunion, at everyone, together again for the first time in over ten years. Those she thought were lost had all been found, they were together again. 

“Lup,” The woman breathed. “I… I looked for so long, I’m so sorry.”

Lup replied, “Oh, no sweat, I was inside an umbrella, I can’t fault you for not looking in there. Now, Lucretia, I need you to please stop conjuring up that barrier, alright? ‘Cause it’s gonna be the end of the world if you put that thing up.” 

Lucretia refused. “Lup, I’m… I’m so happy you’re back but I can’t— there’s nothing you can say that’s gonna make me stop this. I’m gonna save us all, I— I promise.” With those parting words, ominous even though they were supposed to be hopeful, she disappeared. 

Davenport cast a scowl at the direction she had disappeared to before turning back to the rest of the group. “Uh, okay. Gang, listen up, I know I’ve been running at sort of a, a limited capacity for a while but I’m—” 

Angus blinked suddenly feeling very out of the loop. What limited capacity? What had happened to Davenport during these years. He hadn’t even known Lup had gone  _ missing  _ until about 15 minutes before she was found again. What else had he missed out on? He bit his lip, zoning out for a bit until Davenport said his name. When he looked up, the two women and the robot for rushing out of the room. 

“Angus, you’re with me. You’re gonna help me sleuth out where Lucretia’s hiding out. Maybe, maybe I can still talk her out of this.”

“Yes, sir!” Angus said, and hurried over to the last spot they’d seen Lucretia, pulling out a magnifying glass. Lup floated by Angus on her way to look for the Starblaster and yelled. “Sorry about the cookies, little dude; but come on. Memory or no memory, I showed you that recipe a million times.” 

“I was usually too busy tasting to really pay attention.” Angus admitted, and the lich snorted a short laugh as she floated away. Angus focused back on the spot where the shield had been as she floated away, his distraction only broken once, Magnus was clutching the baby voidfish to his chest and chanting ‘no’ in a seemingly never ending repetition. Andgus snorted. If Davenport was trying to make Magnus get rid of it, Angus  _ almost  _ wished him luck. 

Magnus  _ loved  _ Fisher, the baby fish wasn’t going anywhere. Davenport looked to Angus as if asking for support, but the child shook his head. He loved Fisher too. 

The argument would have likely gone on a lot longer, but before it could Barry spoke from where he stood beside Lup and Taako. “Oh, that reminds me. Um, I think if we’re gonna do this thing, we may as well make sure we’ve got every advantage that we could possibly get.” 

And suddenly, he pulled a chest out of a pocket dimension, and he kicked it open. Angus let out a shout of glee to see Shell Game sitting among Magnus’s Bear Face and Merle’s Gilley. 

He pulled the backpack on, grinning at it’s familiar weight along his back. As he did so, his fingers brushed against the silverware in his pocket that he’d taken from Lucretia’s office earlier. 

Oh. Well it was a good thing he’d forgotten about those when his wand broke. 

He pulled out the butterknife and grinned. Ok, now he was ready to get this thing done. 

Suddenly Barry gasped, and Angus followed his gaze to see a sight that truly chilled him. His greatest nightmare, the thing that had frightened him the most during their hundred year adventure. 

Barry breathed. “Court is in session.” 

The judges were here, opal black and just as large as his nightmares remembered. 

Angus cursed and turned to Davenport. They didn’t have time to stand around. “She couldn’t have gone too far while channeling the spell. She’s still on the base, but I don’t know it well enough to know.” 

“Her office.” The man said immediately, “We may find something there. You know how Lucretia was about taking notes.” 

Angus bit back a frown as he nodded and followed him into the room. They all knew how good her notes were now. 

The office was just as much of an organized chaos as Angus remembered, though the tank with the Voidfish and the Anti-Lich charm were both gone. He ran over to the woman’s desk, starting with the most recently scribed journals. If she wrote about her time on the moon base, or even better  _ creating  _ the moon base, it could tell him where she was. Sure enough, Lucretia was preparing for the eventuality that she may have to delete the existence of the bureau and it’s quest for relics, likely ready to feed them to the second voidfish if necessary. 

She had notes detailing  _ everything.  _ He skimmed his friend’s quests from a different perspective, flipped past the contracts between the Bureau and on-site businesses such as Fantasy Costco and something called the Chug-And-Squeeze. He saw the first few people being hired, Leeman Kessler, Magic Brian, and Killian. Finally,  _ finally,  _ he came to the account of the creation of the moon base. 

The boy’s eyes skimmed over the words, only to curse when he arrived at a stubble of paper along the spine of the book, a clear sign that the pages had been torn out. On the next page sat a sticky note, a reminder Lucretia wrote to herself.  _ Now that Lucas is dead, the location of my hideout has died with him. As there is no one who needs to forget, I have removed the pages regarding the location to keep it safe from prying eyes.  _

Davenport rushed over at the curse and Angus showed him the page. “You don’t happen to know about a secret hideout on the base, do you?” 

He shook his head. “No, I wasn’t involved much with the building of the place, I was helping to find potential employees. But I’ll bet that’s where she is.” 

Angus nodded, mind flashing through deductions. “It isn’t near here. It’s too on the nose, if there were enemies looking for her, the first place they went would be her office. She would want the entrance somewhere other than here, somewhere that she could easily get to even if people were after her. So not here, not in the Voidfish chambers… probably not anywhere actually  _ important. _ Also nothing owned by someone else, like all of these businesses, or the dorms. She wouldn’t want to risk anyone finding out from sheer exposure to the area.” Angus looked up and met the gnome’s eyes. “We need a public place, central to the base and open, but not somewhere people would necessarily linger. Probably a hidden door or something. Do you know anywhere like that?”

The Captain nodded. “There are a few places we can look. We just have to hope that we can get lucky enough to find the door. Though, maybe not luck.” He appraised Angus. “That was impressive. Your deductions have improved. I don’t- I know we’re on a time frame, but I want you to know that you were alone for all this, that you felt like you had to be alone to do whatever you were doing before Lucretia… before. I’m proud of you for surviving though, and I’m glad you’re here now.” 

Angus felt affection rise in him. “Thank you, Captain. I-I’m really glad that I’m here too.” 

Davenport gripped the boy’s shoulder for a beat, two, then dropped his hand. “Alright. Let’s get cracking.” 

They were still running through Cap’n’port’s mental list of possibly locations when suddenly a blue light shot through the room, a light that seemed to shoot through the world. Angus closed his eyes as an absolutely gorgeous song filled his mind, a song that was just as fantastic as any heard in Legato, a quality of music that he hadn’t heard in decades. The light was followed by a green one, a light just as powerful, but rather than a song, this one told a story. A story of sacrifice, of hard work, of love, loss, near misses and tremendous victories. It told of lost friends and found family it- oh. It was telling  _ their  _ story. 

Angus met Davenport’s eyes. They would find Lucretia. They had to. A story like that didn’t end like this, they wouldn’t let it. 

Angus took a deep breath and allowed himself a moment to think. The world knew the story now, everyone did. They could see the Hunger and it’s minions. There was stuff only he could do. “Davenport, do you have a Stone of Farspeech?” He asked, rummaging through some nearby purses and backpacks that had apparently been abandoned when the Hunger came, coming up victorious with a few more stones. 

“Uh, yeah. That uh, that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but I’ll roll with it.” He handed the boy the stone. “Uh, why.” 

“They can  _ see  _ now. I can help coordinate, I have connections within the Milita.” 

“You have ties with the Neverwinter Militia?” 

“No,” The boy said with a grin as he changed the frequency of all of the stones. “I have ties with  _ every  _ Militia.” 

* * *

Angus juggled his ever-ringing stones of farspeech as Davenport checked another room, his hands running over each and every tapestry and statue, removing every book from every shelf in search of hidden switches and passageways. 

“The Hunger may be attacking your town now, but it will centralize once it knows where the Light is. Right now, that’s Neverwinter, not New Elfington. Keep some men behind if you must, but the real battle will be here, and the Hunger will realize that soon enough and leave your town alone. It is unstoppable once it gets what it wants. Either you help us stop the threat here, or it won’t matter because the world will be overtaken anyway. Try to head a little further east on your way in, we already have people coming from the north.” He dropped the stone and reached for another one.

“Yes, send everyone you can spare; warriors, magic users, farmers waving pitchforks. If you see any outlying threats on your way in, stop them, but keep headed this direction. Swing south a bit, there are these huge Judges, manifestations of the Hunger that you’re not equipped to defeat. Try to avoid them unless necessary.” 

Dropped it and picked up another. 

“That’s right. Black Opal, no they aren’t actually made of stone but they are resilient, harder to kill. Be careful.” 

Another. 

“Percy, I don’t- what? Oh you changed your legal name to Graham cause all the time is train time? Fine. Graham, I don’t care that it’s not your recommended route. I need You to go the full line 415 trail and stop at every stop to pick up the people I have waiting there… I know it will be a tight fit, but they can cram in… tickets? No they don’t- Graham, you owe me. I was the one that convinced the Rockport Milita Captain to give you a recommendation for steering us to safety after their attendant murdered their captain. I’m the reason you have this job… Yes, I will personally send the Rockport Limited train company a letter saying that you were helping save the world. Just pick people up and step on it. We need all the help we can get. Also it was lovely talking to you and I am very glad you’re enjoying your new job.” 

Dropped it, another. 

“I guess if you think the cult will actually help, we could definitely use the necrotic magic. I have a train coming your way, should be there in about half an hour, 25 minutes if Graham steps on it.” 

He had called every Militia he had worked with, each adventuring party that had hired him, any contacts he’d made through his cases. It was… it was a lot actually. He’d often felt alone, but this… In his time of need he had  _ hundreds  _ of people coming to his aid. Honestly, finding people who wanted to help wasn’t much of a problem, it was finding a way to get them here in time to help. Graham’s train would help, but it was on a set route, it wouldn’t be able to-

“Oi, oi, Angus is that you?” A familiar, accented voice sounded from a stone. 

Angus blinked at it. “Jerreeeeeee?” He asked, remembering the hammerhead from his time in Goldcliffe. 

“Angus! Yo! We had like, the wickedest vision about you! You were like an alien and stuff, is that true?” 

“Um, I guess so, yes.” 

“Sweet. So, it looks like you’se are in a bit of trouble. Anything that we can do to help?” 

“You want to help? Really? After what my friends did to Maarvey, Cooper, and Joffrey?” The latter two were the ones who had been cruelest to Klarg. Angus heard they had been crushed under a wagon by Magnus. They didn't die, but they’d had enough injuries that he’d heard that they quit the gang because of it.

“Eh, they was all jerks. Little Jerry’s in charge now and eh, between you and me da gang’s doing a much better race, ya know? ‘Sides, once yer a Hammerhead, yer a hammerhead all da way.” 

A grin wormed its way on his lips. “Thank you Jerreeeeeee. Do you happen to have any contact with the other wagon racers? I have quite a few friends who could use a lift.” 

Davenport waved to get his attention and Angus grabbed all of his stones before following the man to the next potential hiding spot, calling the Adventuring parties who had initially been too far away to get to them in time. Davenport gave the boy a nervous glance as he started taking portraits off the wall to see if there was anything behind them. 

“Angus… I know that whether we find Starblaster and escape or not, there will be  _ some  _ attack by the Hunger and it would be good to have some support, but… remember, this… our plan, it didn’t  _ work _ . Or at least, not completely. We are leaving again, with the Light. You- you do realize that, right? I’m sorry, kiddo, but… in a few hours, either we’re gone- in which case the Hunger leaves, or… it’s the end. Of everything.” 

Angus felt a pang, a deep shot of pain at the thought of leaving another world. Leaving  _ this  _ world. He didn’t want to, he had never wanted to leave a world less. Possibly including his first world. He didn’t know why. He had thought he was so miserable. At times he  _ had  _ been miserable, but… One of his stones rang, and another familiar voice called out. But he had made friends, more than he realized. He didn’t want to leave. 

That was beside the point though. He laid all of his stones out on a desk and picked up the one that was ringing, his personal stone. He looked at Davenport seriously, truthfully. “I understand that that’s the plan, sir, but… I think this is it. Too much has happened, this is where it all ends, for good or for bad. I can feel it, my instincts are screaming it.”

The gnome cast him a look and cursed. “I know better than to doubt your instincts Angus, we’ve discussed your ability to predict the future like some narrator is feeding you lines, but forgive me if I hope you’re wrong. We…  _ I  _ at least am not in the best shape I’ve ever been in.” A smile played at the man’s lips. “Though, I did retain enough of myself to do my annual Davenport Dance on Candlenights every year.”

Angus grinned brightly, burning with curiosity over what the gnome had been up to for the years. “I’m sad I missed it. After 10 years of practice, I can’t wait to see your new moves. I’ll see it next year.” He said.

Davenport sent him a glance and nodded. “Next year.” And he went back to searching the room as Angus pulled up his stone again. 

“I’m sorry, please repeat that, I didn’t hear you.” 

“I remember him.” The voice responded. 

“Um, I’m sorry?” 

“My Fiance, Magic Brian. I  _ remembered  _ him, Angus.” And suddenly the child knew exactly who he was talking to, the patron who had paid him to find the missing people. “And then… and then I saw you. You did something, Angus, I know it. Thank you.” 

“You, uh, you are very welcome and I would love to talk with you more about it, but I am currently a bit busy and-” 

“Oh, I know. Where are you Angus?” 

“Huh?” 

“Where are you? Because we’re ready. All of us, we remembered our loved ones tonight. Me, the Kesslers, the Boylands, the others… we have them back in our lives even if they’re gone. Our loved ones died for something they believed in, died protecting the world. We are going to  _ honor  _ their memory now that we have it. So Angus, where are you? We will be there.” 

The boy swallowed. “Neverwinter. Tell Ma Vistra that there will be a train that should come through their town in about 35 minutes. Warn her and the other Boyland parents that there may be at least one necrotic cult on the train. Let me know if anyone else needs help getting here.”

Davenport came over and shook his head. “There’s nothing here, Angus. This was my last idea. We’ll have to-” He looked out the window. “They’re back.” He announced. 

The two small figures sprinted out of the room and onto the main quad, where their family was clustered as well as a man he didn’t know. Angus pointed at the stranger. 

“Who’s this?” 

“Uh, I’m Lucas.” The human stranger said.

Angus blinked. “The guy who made Merle lose an arm?” 

“No, that was Magnus.” The dwarf said. 

“I saved your life!” Magnus yelled. 

“Agnes, you know about Lucas.” Taako said, an arm around his sister’s shoulders as if reluctant to ever be more than a few feet from her ever again. “He made the quiz robot. Remember Candlenights?” 

Angus made a face. “That was a very bad toy, sir.” 

“I-It was a prototype.” The inventor explained. 

Angus opened his mouth to say it was a very bad prototype as well, but Danvenport spoke before he could, bringing them back to task. “Okay, we looked all over but there’s just no sign of Lucretia. Lup, Barry, did you find the Starblaster?”

Lup made a face. “Ohhh. I… may have forgotten that we were supposed to be doing that.” 

Angus cut in. “We think they’ll be in the same place. I’m almost certain that Miss. Lucretia had made some sort of secret base on… well on her secret base.” 

“Sounds like her.” Barry agreed. 

Lucas held up a hand as if in class. “Uh, are you all talking about Lucretia’s spaceship?”

“It’s kind of all of ours.” Magnus said. 

Merle added, “It’s kind of, yeah, it’s like a timeshare more.” 

“Yeah.” Taako agreed. 

“If anything, it’s Davenport’s spaceship.” Angus added. 

Magnus made a ‘so-so’ gesture. “We’re all on— we’re all on the registration.”

“I’m not.” 

“Honorary.” Barry said. “You’re like, an honorary owner, pal.” 

Lucas interjected. “Well, I know where that is. Lucretia had me and my mom build a hangar for it right here in the Bureau HQ. Uh, you were right about the secret base thing… child. Angus? I think the vision said your name is Angus. I’m not- I wasn’t sure if it was creepy or not that I knew it.” 

“My name is Angus, yes.”

The human man walked over to a tree in the corner of the grassy quad in the middle of the Bureau and rubbed his hand along the bark. Nothing happened. 

Ah. Now Angus understood why he made something like the death-quiz-robot-for-children.

He was insane. 

The man looked at his hand sadly. "I got a splinter." He shook his head and repeated it to a different tree. Suddenly, as he ran his hand along the bark a gap appeared in the lawn, a small centimeter-wide gap that completely bisected the small park. As they watched, the gap got wider and wider, until the Starblaster, their  _ home  _ for a century, appeared. It almost seemed to recognize them, turning and offering it's gangplank as the bond engine came to life. 

A huge weight lifted off Davenport at the sight, a joy that came from seeing the ship that he had spent so much of his life working towards and on. He took a look off the edge of the headquarters before joining the group. 

"It looks like you all have done some good work out there, but the facts haven’t changed. The Hunger’s gonna keep attacking this world until it’s destroyed. Even the reinforcements Angus called in isn't going to change that. We… we’ve gotta go." He sounded truly regretful, sending Angus a significant look. 

Angus didn't have time to send any kind of look back, as two voices, Magnus and Lucretia, simultaneously responded, "Not yet." 

Angus whirled to see Lucretia standing on the gangplank, still surrounded by her shield and channeling the Light of Creation. She begged for them to let her try, let her complete task she had worked so hard for, but they didn’t budge. 

Barry tried one last time to get through to the woman, “Lucretia, if that spell goes off, you’re gonna sever every bond this world’s got. This plane would be doomed.” 

The woman didn’t stop channeling, and Angus felt tears prickle his eyes at the tears in hers. She wasn’t doing this out of spite or malice or to be obstinate. She… she was trying to save the world the best was she knew how. She was trying  _ so hard  _ and giving everything she had, it just… it just wouldn’t work. Even if she was the one making the barrier, she must feel so… trapped. Huh. Trapped. 

Barry turned back to the rest of the group. “We’ve got two choices, gang. We stay and Lucretia’s barrier cuts this world off from the rest of existence, or we run. And we try again next cycle. That’s it. Two choices, it’s time to decide.”

Trapped. By Lucretia’s shield. He and Taako shared a look, and Angus knew that they were thinking the exact same thing. Well, Taako got to break the umbrella, Angus called this one. 

“There’s another option.” He said loudly before Taako had the time to do more than open his mouth. Suddenly, a crystal that Angus had never seen before rose out of Merle’s pocket, to the dwarf’s surprise. It hung for a moment, then shattered, sending a thick white fog around the area. Almost like the projection of light upon a screen, images floated on the opaque fog. 

It showed Taako cooking a gorgeous feast along with Lup, who was back in her body. They were smiling, laughing at something. Magnus and Angus were at a park, playing with a beautiful golden retriever whose tail was wagging with such velicity it was nothing more than a blur. Merle was splashing in an ocean, playing with Mavis and Mookie on the beach. Each dwarf had a huge grin on their face. Carey and Killian were reading a book together in a mountainside cabin. Davenport was on a boat, charting the stars with a huge smile on his face. Lucretia was overseeing the creation of a massive Library. Klaarg was with his family, teaching a younger Bugbear how to wrestle. Lucas was standing in a classroom, looking at a strange invention with a teenager in a classroom. Angus was at Haddie's birthday party, singing around a cake made of stacked donuts. Everyone looked so  _ happy.  _

“What is this?” Lucretia asked, voice hoarse as tears threatened. “What does this mean?”

Magnus pointed at the disappearing fog, the vision of a potential future. “I would like that one, pl— yes, that one? This, this one we just saw? I would like this please.”

“It— it means there is a happy ending if we get to it.” Merle said, determination etched on his usually-easygoing face. 

Angus nodded. “There’s- there’s a third option. It doesn't have to be cut off the world or run. Lucretia, instead of trapping this plane, could you trap the Hunger? Bind it until we can starve it out?”

Angus kept his eyes on Lucretia as he gave his idea. The woman’s stance changed completely. She relaxed, leaning back and stopping the spell that was being channeled to her staff. “Huh.” 

Beside Angus, Barry said, “Huh.” 

And Lup said, “Huh.”

Taako pointed at Angus. “I knew you were taking my idea, you little-” 

“Well, I did learn from the best, sir.” 

“Yeah, twice. Don’t think I forgot about that. There was no buy one get one free sale on the Taako experience.” He turned back to the rest of the group. “Listen, all that thing wants on Earth, the thing it wants more than anything else, we have been basically trolling it for a hundred years. The only thing it wants, is to pick us up and absorb us into itself. And I don’t know about you all, but Taako’s good out here.”

Lucretia looked between Taako and Angus, growing visibly excited. “That would work. But, I would have to be— I would have to be on the plane that I’m casting the spell over in order to do it. We would have to get up there, into the Hunger.” 

Merle snorted. “If only we had a ship that moved from plane to plane!”

Magnus pointed at the dwarf. “What he said.”

As they spoke, Angus looked to their Captain. “Do you think that you can get close enough to it sir? It will be on the attack.” 

Davenport smiled, walking towards the ship, pride shining in his eyes as they finally had a plan. “I can get us up there. I know I can.” He laid one hand on the hull of the Starblaster before boarding. “You up for one last flight, old buddy?”

The barrier around Lucretia flickered and fell. The woman looked at her family with horrified, distressed eyes. “I’m so sorry. I— I was so… myopic. I worked so hard on this plan, I gave up— I had blinders on, and I don’t expect you all to forgive me but some—”

Magnus was already running to envelop her in a hug. She weeped into his arms. “I’ll find a way to make it up, I promise.”

Merle moved as if to hug her as well, hesitating when he remembered that he would be about butt level, but Magnus picked him up so he could join the embrace. Angus hesitated for a moment, but he moved over as well. He couldn’t… he couldn’t stay too mad a Lucretia. He understood her too well. He knew that everything she had done, everything that she had tried to do… it was for them. She had seen how the relics had hurt the world, how the destruction they caused was tearing their family apart. She had done it because she truly, from the depth of her heart, thought it was the only way to save them, to save anything. He couldn’t hate her for that.

Even if he wanted to desperately, now that he knew that their was someone he could blame for the life he’d lead. 

He wasn’t sure he entirely trusted her yet, wasn’t sure if he could look her in the eyes, but he would hold her now. He would give her comfort. She’d dried his tears often enough, he would return the favor. He may still be mad at Lucretia, but he still loved her. 

Taako wasn’t swayed by the woman’s weeping. “Yeah, lemme know how that works out.”

Angus buried his head in Lucretia’s hip, hating the part of him that was glad someone was still able to give Lucretia a hard time. He loved her, and she had been trying her best, but it was still a very bad thing to do. 

Magnus grunted. “Hmph, c’mon.” 

“Absolu— don’t try to manufacture my— my character growth. No way. Absolutely not.” Taako protested, and Angus lifted his head back enough to send the elf a smile. He took a few steps back from Lucretia as Lup floated near, not wanting to be super close to the woman if things went, uh, explosion-y. However, the Lich simply put her ghostly forehead against Lucretias for a moment. 

“Lucretia, dear, I’ve already forgotten about the whole thing. Oh, uh! Sorry, bad choice of words.” 

And suddenly, Angus could laugh. Despite knowing what he had lost, despite the pain and loss that had come with both the memories and knowing what Lucretia had done to them, with those words, he could  _ laugh  _ about it. That jarred something in him. When he’d first started joining the IPRE mission, he remembered thinking that the phrase ‘we’ll laugh about this someday’ was so odd, especially when it became true. With the team ‘someday’ came so much sooner than it would for anyone else. They were so able to make jokes, so able to laugh through terrifying serious situations. Now, as he joined Lucretia and Lup’s laughter, a weight lifted from his shoulders even as he knew they had a long way ahead of them because… ‘someday’ had come. They could laugh about Lucretia taking their memories because it was  _ over _ . They had their memories back, they were together again, he was home. 

He laughed.

Lucretia and Lup embraced as much as they were able considering Lup was a ghost, and Lucretia followed Davenport onto the ship. The woman had just crossed the threshold when suddenly, the sound of roaring filled the air. The pillars moved, the Darkness centering his attack on Neverwinter. Angus watched as the tendrils moved through the aid, twirling togather like a sentient black tornado as the conglomerated into massive hunch of tendrils twisted together like a rope, centered behind the last Judge. For a moment, the world seemed to have paused. Nothing moved. Then, tens of thousands of warped, black opal figures fell from the mass of tendrils. It was like a beehive, a neverending mass of shadows so closely connected that individual shapes could not be seen, only a constantly swirling mass. 

Lup stopped halfway up the gangplank and watched the scene. She and Barry shared a look before they both nodded as one. Lup moved off the gangplank. “I think Barry and I are going to stay behind. L-li— I know that sounds horrible, but listen. The five of you are about to go save the world. And we need to make sure there’s still a world for you to come back to, okay?”

“Do you need any help?” Magnus asked. 

Barry smiled at Lup before responding. “Nah, I think we got this handled.”

Taako’s eyes didn’t leave his sister. “Am I…? I’m not going to lose you again.”

The lich shook her head vehemently. “Never. Never again, bud.” She moved to hug her brother, of pseudo-hug him as she was still intangible. “Please don’t die.”

“I’d say the same to you, but that ship done sailed, eh?”

Angus handed Barry the multitude of Stones of Farspeech that he’d been using. “I had a feeling the Hunger would bring the battle to us. I have reinforcements coming.” 

“Reinforcements? Who?” 

“About 6 different militia, about a dozen adventurer parties… I’ve got a train coming to station in… should be 30 minutes now with 2 of the militia, at least one cult, and a couple of very angry dwarves. Some Battle Wagons should show up soon with some more people too.” 

“You uh, you’ve been busy, eh Pal?” 

“I guess so, sir.” He kept his personal stone, just in case.

Lup commanded. “Barry, Killian, Carey, Nerdlord, you’re all with me.”

“Am I Nerdlord?” Lucas whispered to Angus, and the boy had to fight back a snicker. 

“Um, yeah, I think she was talking about you, sir.”

Suddenly, Magnus was there. “Ango, I know that we are going into- I mean, honestly we are going into pretty much the worst situation. So,” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, rusty pocketknife. The one his grandfather had given him. “This has always brought me good luck. Be safe. You’re going to hand that back to me at the end of all this, okay?”

It still had Rhino-eye-goo on it. Angus didn’t care. He jumped up and gave the man a big hug, feeling the burly arms squeeze him back. He’d missed these hugs so much. “I won’t let you down, sir.”

“Well I know  _ that _ , kid.” He squeeze a bit tighter before letting go. Angus got the impression that he’d missed the hugs as well. 

When Magnus let Angus go, Taako was there. “Hey, um, cool knife. You know he has a sword that’s on fire, right? So, just before you get too excited, he did just give you a knife. I just want you to remember who’s your dude? Who’s your dude?”

Angus laughed weepily before enveloping Taako into a hug as well. Taako… in both of his lives the elf had played such a big part, as a mentor, helper, guide. He taught him magic. He’d taught him to cook, kinda. The child locked his arms. He didn’t want to let go. 

When he finally did, Barry was talking with Merle and Magnus was talking with Killian. Taako flipped Angus a little fake sheriff badge. “You’re the sheriff of magic now, Angus.”

Angus took the badge, amused. Were they just trying to make him hold all of their junk? “Thank you, sir." He pinned it to his shirt… mostly just cause. Taako wandered to one of the Bureau of Balance members to say some last words and Magnus was exchanging serious words with a dragonborn. Angus took the moment, a moment of encouragement and hope and goodbye, to call a well-dialed frequency on his stone. 

"Hello?" A voice asked, scared. 

"Hi, uh, hi Vantil." Angus said, recognizing the voice of one of the eldest Boyland children, probably the one left in charge. "Its Angus, er, Arby. Can I, uh, can I talk with Haddie?" 

"ARBY? Of- of course, yeah. HADDIE! he called, then lowered his voice, knowing that one of the others would get her if she was too far to hear. "Aren't you like," he laughed. "Aren't you kinda doing something right now?"

"Um yeah, we're kinda taking a quick pause to say, like good luck."  _ Goodbye _ , just in case. 

"Arby, Arby is that you?" Haddie's voice sounded, the sentence starting off dull and becoming louder as the dwarf was given the phone. “Or, I guess Angus.” 

“Yeah, it uh, it’s me.”

“Did you  _ really _ write the Caleb Cleveland books?” She asked, voice filled with amazement and wonder. Angus wanted to laugh. It wasn’t an accusation for lying about his name. It wasn’t ‘are you really an alien’ or ‘did you really save multiple words’ or even ‘are you really over a hundred years old’. No, it was about his book, his passion project, the things that gave him peace and joy in both worlds. 

“Yeah, that was me too.”

“No wonder you could always figure them out.” She accused. 

“Well, in my defense, I didn’t actually  _ remember  _ writing them when I was with you. Look, I, I have to go soon. But I want to tell you, and- and your siblings and parents, thank you. Thank you all for being my friends. I-I can’t tell you how much it meant for me.” 

“Well of course we were your friends.You’re awesome, and that was before we knew you  _ wrote  _ the books. Me and Grolf have been geeking out all day, this is bigger than the end of the world.”

Angus chuckled, but before anything more could be said, Davenport yelled, “We gotta go! Apocalypse ring any bells? Come on!” 

"Sorry, I gotta- I gotta go. But tell Gerald I was right about the nerdy necromancer. I told him it was a callback." 

"I-I will. Be careful, Angus. I need you to sign all my books."

Magnus jogged to Lup and said something Angus didn’t catch, but he heard her reply. “No, totally. Let’s save the world, then 420 blaze it. Can we gooOOO?”

Angus sprinted up the gangplank along with Magnus, Merle, and Taako. He ran to the main deck and buckled into his seat as Davenport prepared for takeoff. He gripped his wand-fork in one hand and carefully primed his hidden crossbow in his sleeve. His spoon and knife wands were safe in his pocket, ready to be grabbed as needed

“Everyone ready?” Davenport asked. 

Angus wiped his glasses on his shirt and slid them back on. He was ready as he would ever be. 

“Wait,” Magnus called. “I want to tell Killian one last thing.”

“Go!” Taako yelled. 

Davenport went, the Starblaster shooting into the sky. Angus looked down as they flew over the town. Lup, Barry, Angus, and Lucas were standing at the forefront of an odd army of Neverwinter’s survivors. Klarg was in the crowd, surrounded by his family and fellow wrestlers. Angus could see clouds of dust in the distance heralding the arrival of the first of the battle wagons. 

With that image seared into his mind, Angus closed his mind when the Voidfish’s light surrounded the world once more. He hummed along to the now-familiar song, the one he’d heard earlier. He could feel himself gaining hope, gaining vitality. It was as if, through the song, someone was speaking directly into his soul. “You’re going to have to fight. And… you’re gonna win!”

Angus glared into the hunger, stared readily into the eye of the storm. It ended here.


	19. Story and Song Pt 2- End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW!!! Thank you guys so much for this ride!! 
> 
> I can't express how much I appreciate my loyal readers and commentors who inspired me. You guys are amazing, thank you so much!!
> 
> So, I mentioned this last chapter but didn't get a lot of response, would anyone be interested in me doing like a 'authors commentary' where I explain my little inside jokes and nods to canon and thought process. Please let me know.

Angus gripped the seat with a white-knucked grip, staring ahead determinedly as Davenport wove around the tendrils of the Hunger. Lucretia sat beside Davenport, still channeling her spell as Taako, Merle, and Magnus braced themselves against railings on the deck. Angus swallowed as he looked into the face of the Hunger. He had never seen the enemy so close before, not in its entirety. It was even more imposing, more invincible than it had appeared in his nightmares; so large that as they neared it seemed to warp the horizon. It was a seemingly never ending mass of negative black, speckled with opal greens and reds and filled with flashing lights. 

As one, hundreds of ribbons of darkness slip from the gorging mass, all headed straight for the Starblaster. Davenport didn’t move. One hand hovered over the throttle and as the other gripped the steering wheel tightly. He reminded Angus of Mama Jaguar the day she taught them to hunt, to pounce. Just like her, he waited. And waited. And waited. 

The tendrils shot closer with every breath, but still the gnome did not move. Lucretia looked up, wide eyed as she was distracted from her spellwork. 

“Davenport!” She cried, but the gnome didn’t twitch. 

“Not yet.”

Angus gripped his fork, tightening the straps of his Shell Game as the tendril grew closer still, nearly upon them as Lucretia continued to cry Davenport’s name. 

The gnome smiled, and tightened his grip on the wheel. “Alright, buddy. Dance for me.” The Starblaster happily obliged. Angus let out a yelp and gripped the seat tighter as the ship reared back and rolled, completing three loops as it expertly evaded the attacking tendrils. The streamers of shadow shrieked as they were denied their prize, moving to attempt to wrap themselves around the ship, but Davenport was faster, smarter, more skilled. He dove, slamming the throttle forward and sinking down so quickly that the tendrils crashed together overhead. 

Davenport wove, careening left and right in sharp turns and dives as he dodged the attack. From his spot behind the wheel, the gnome laughed in adrenaline-filled joy. 

Ahead, the tendrils seemed to catch onto their scheme, no longer attacking as separate tendrils, but instead creating a tidal wave of black opal coming straight at the ship. 

“Hold on!” Davenport shouted, shooting forward to meet the wave head-on, attempting to punch through the attack. Suddenly, they were in the middle of the wave, surrounded on all sides by the black opal and the hundreds of flashing multicolored lights. They made it through to the other side of the wave, and for a moment they had a second of peace, a short time to catch there breath and share a wide-eyed look of surprise that that had actually worked. 

The reprieve did not last. On the deck of the ship, splashes and puddles of opal coalesced together. They formed into a figure that Angus had never seen before, though Merle’s eyes shone in recognition. From that alone, Angus knew that this was John, this was the Hunger, the humanoid manifestation of their enemy. John’s shoulders heaved as he panted and seethed with rage, fists clenched and head held high as he glared into the ship. He had come for a fight. 

He was going to get one. 

“This is it?” Magnus asked. “It’s just a guy!” 

“Yeah, it’s just one guy, it shouldn’t be an issue.” Taako agreed. 

Magnus continued. “No, we killed like a giant spider, and there was like that plant lady, this is just a dude!” 

Angus’s head shot up. “I missed Magnus trying to fight a giant spider? Aw man, did he freak out?” 

“No!” The fighter protested. 

“Yes.” Merle answered immediately. The dwarf gestured back at their enemy. “It’s a nice suit though. The spider didn’t have a suit.” 

Magnus agreed. “Oh, it’s a great suit! Yeah yeah yeah!”

Taako suddenly interrupted to confess, “Merle, I wanted to take this moment to tell you something, I—I stole your cousin’s shoes. And that seems cruel, now, in retrospect, but I did like them very much, and I stole them, and I then I lied to you about stealing them, in Wave Echo Cave, and I just wanted to let you know that I’m sorry for that. If you’re angry, I would like you to direct it at that gentleman over there.”

Magnus added. “Um, as long as we’re making confessions, I should also say, Merle; I am currently wearing those shoes, umm…” 

“He is wearing the shoes. I gave him the shoes, Merle. I didn’t even steal them for me, I just stole them for kicks.” 

Angus blinked. “What the heck happened while I was gone?” He mused aloud. The figure, furious at being ignored so completely, roared, the cry so loud that the ship vibrated at it’s force.

Magnus sent the figure an annoyed look. “Could you give us a second please? We’re talking about shoes.”

“Yeah, we’ll fight when we’re ready.” Taako added.

Merle groused. “Hang on! Pan almighty!” 

“It is very rude to interrupt, sir.” Angus added. He missed these guys so stinking much. 

“He’s gonna kill us anyway.” Taako muttered. 

“Go on, got anything else to confess?” Merle asked. 

Magnus and Taako seemed to be thinking it over for a moment. Angus hummed. “Oh, I got 300 gold for catching the Rockport Slayer, and I didn’t tell you about the reward. Also, on hamster world, Magnus, I knew that wasn’t chocolate.” 

“WHAT?” 

The figure threw an arm to his side, and the black shadows that made up his arm transformed the appendage into a long, sharp sword. 

Merle was not cowed, and shouted at their enemy. “John! I’ve died sixty-eight times.  _ Sixty-eight _ ! Been there, done that. Do your worst, pal.”

Megnus grinned and hefted his axe and lance, his expression wicked beneath the bear mask. “Hey, you know what? Why not. Let’s do this.”

Angus nodded, readying his wand and jumping out of his seat. He felt charged, ready. His entire life, longer than his natural life should have been, over a hundred years, was centered on this moment. Every minute of training, every moment that he’d spent learning a new skill or honing skills he already had, every decision for the majority of his life… it all led here. 

It was go time. 

Merle opened an unfamiliar book with a gorgeous owl on the cover and cast a spell of healing that rushed over the group. Angus could feel his wounds knit together, even his bumps, bruises and aches fading until he felt at 100%. 

“All right!” Magnus shouted as he threw the Chance Lance, hurling it at the dark figure. It lodged itself in the figure’s stomach, but that didn’t stop John from taking step after step towards the fighter, sword held menacingly. Magnus held out a hand and called the lance back, moving simultaneously to attack with his… fire-scorpion-sword thing.

The figure actually took a step back as the blade crossed his chest, leaving a black scorch mark on the shadowy opal chest. The figure grunted in anger as Magnus jumped back to join Angus, Taako, and Merle. John swiped at the four figures in a large arch, and a burst of flame spread from his open hand.

Angus managed to dive behind the chair he’d been sitting on, but still cried out as the heat was so intense that he felt like he hadn’t dodged at all. He stood, cradling a blistered arm to his chest as he cast Confusion, but John shrugged it off without so much of a pause. The boy cursed, scowling, as he ducked back down behind the chair, gripping it tight as Davenport swerved to avoid more of the tendrils that continued to attack.

John paid him no mind, walking unhindered through the fire to swing his blade at Magnus. The fighter parried, but wasn’t able to stop the attack completely and got a long, bloody line across his shoulder. 

“Hey, Merle, I know I talk crap about you a lot, but thanks for healing!”

“Oh, it’s good to be appreciated!” The dwarf said with a nod, patting the fire out of his beard.

Taako cast a spell that sent a huge ball of storms to envelope John. Taako continued to chant and gesture, and a flash of light had Angus blinking as the elf sent a bolt of lightning at the figure. Merle moved forward as well, brandishing his bible and creating a wall of razor sharp blades that whirled and surrounded the sphere, slashing in at the enemy. Lightning crackled as it contacted the magical metallic blades,and John let out a pained cry as they connected, now in the eye of two storms. 

Magnus kinda bounced at his feet for a moment, unable to really get in there unless he wanted to take damage from two extremely powerful spells. The man’s eyes quickly rolled over the ship, seeking anything that would help him in the fight. Suddenly a roguish grin crossed the man’s face as he pulled out a grappling hoot and shot it at the top of the mast. He swung, using the mas as leverage to clear the 20 foot tall wall of blades and drop down into the center of Taako’s storm. Lightening arched around, catching the man’s metal helmet and other accessories. He dropped in front of John, sizzling but apparently mostly unharmed. 

MAgnus let of a flurry of ferocious attacks, jabs and blows with both of his weapons, striking out with both the Chance Lance and the sword, while John could only try to dodge or perry. Not every blow fell, but Magnus’s power and fury was impossible to avoid completely. The human ended with a stab straight to the shadowy chest, and John  _ screamed  _ in pain at that final blow. The scream sent out a burst of energy, and Angus yelped as blades came flying at him, only for his Shell Game to collect them. As they were magical projections rather than actual weapons they didn’t remain in his bag, but he breathed out a sign of relief as he wasn’t injured. Unlike Taako and Merle, who had a smattering of small cuts littering their faces, arms, and clothes. Magnus avoided the blades since he was on the inside of the explosion, but the force was enough to send him flying back to the other two. Angus scrambled to join them, wand held and ready. He didn’t get the chance to cast anything. 

John was stumbling backwards as he lost his footing on the ever-weaving ship, sword still embedded in his chest. The man felt to his knees at a particularly quick turn, looking at their party with desperate, terrified eyes filled with pain. Then, he jumped to his feet and cocked his head. 

John smiled. 

Without warning another enormous pulse of energy shot from the villain, and the four of them were sent flying, knocked backward until they fell only a few feet from where Lucretia was trying desperately to concentrate on channeling her spell. 

Angus looked up to see John completely surrounded by the streamers of darkness. They were emerging from his body and completely enveloping him until any visual of the man was gone, replaced with a swirling column of darkness. Then the column exploded. 

The party all shielded their eyes from the explosion and when they chanced another look, John was gone. He had been replaced with a monster straight from a nightmare. A pool of liquid opal sat on the base of the deck, and from the pool was a looming monster, only visible from the torso up. The creature brandished long arms with razor-sharp claws, with skeletal wings of multi-colored lights adorning it’s back. The creature was crowned with a coronet of light, casting it’s featureless face into ever-changing shadows. The monster reared up, then lowered it’s monstrous face to their group and  _ roared. _

Lights flashed along the creature, streaming in erratic bursts of color until they separated from the beast entirely. Four orbs, each a different color, peeled off from the creature’s skin and orbited the beast. Transformation finished, John attacked. 

He swiped at Magnus, one of the razor sharp claws, catching the man in the chest and slashing across his chest as he was knocked prone. The beat then pointed a clawed finger at Merle, and dark smoke crawled from it to surround Merle. The Cleric screamed in agony for a horrific heartbeat, two. When the smog cleared, the dwarf was unconscious.

Angus cried out in horror at the sight of his friend falling. Fury in his eyes, he cast Blight at their enemy, a spell that Barry had taught him decades ago. Barry, who had been forced to be a villainized lich, separated from his loved ones. Separated from Angus. Separated from Lup. Because of this  _ monster.  _ He cast the spell and watched with grim satisfaction as life was drained from the beast, it’s light’s dimming and opalescent skin shriveling.

The beast screamed at him, and Angus stumbled several steps backwards as pure, unadulterated terror flashed through him. In that moment he was terribly, incredibly frightened. 

Taako stumbled back beside him, evidently caught in the same horror as Angus. The boy felt himself shaking, tears pulling at his eyes. He was so scared. What’s more, the mental attack that came with the fear was pounding in his head, completely debilitating. Angus felt like he could barely move. He wasn’t- he wasn’t in very good shape. He thought that if he got so much as a stubbed toe, he would completely cease to function. 

The boy’s breaths were coming out labored, difficult as he struggled to sit up. Unfortunately for this beast he was used to fear, lived with it as a companion for far too long. He wouldn’t let it stop him, he had defied it often enough. 

If only he could just… move past this searing pain. He couldn’t, couldn’t move fast enough as the red orb around the creature flashed and fire erupted on the ship. The flame brushed near, and the boy fell into darkness. 

He could still, distantly, hear the sounds of battle, Taako yelling spells and Magnus calling the Chance Lance. He heard the whirr of the Starblaster and thuds as the tendrils smacked against the ship. He heard the roar of John and the screaming energy that came from the orbs. As the moments passed, the sounds grew more and more distant. He heard Lucretia scream, but it was muffled. All the sounds were muffled, barely there.They faded, becoming quieter and quieter and… and then they were gone. 

And everything went silent. 

Angus’s only thought was that this time… he wouldn’t be opening his eyes to the closet. 

Strangely though, he did open his eyes to… something. He wasn’t- he couldn’t be sure if he was awake or asleep, couldn’t know that it was at all real. But… he thought he saw a light, no hundreds of threads of lights, centered on the ring of the Starblaster, the device that Davenport had told him propelled the ship. The bond engine. It was spinning, spinning faster than it had ever seemed to spin before, letting off a whining hum. Suddenly, there was a voice, it was calling for him, yelling his name from the other side of the glowing golden portal. 

Suddenly, Angus was opening his eyes, laying on the deck of the Starblaster, wounds, headache, and fear gone. (Well, magical fear gone, he had heaps of the normal fear). He blinked, looking back in the direction of the portal, the phantom voice calling for him. His jaw dropped when he saw Pan, actual god of nature Pan, step through it. 

Magnus was watching it as well, his eyes wide as he stared into the glorious gold light. “Troth?” He asked hesitantly. “Troth is that you?” 

A tiefling monk leaped from the portal, covered in armor, bo staff in hand and looking ready for battle. A fierce smile stretched across her face as she pulled Magnus to his feet. “Well, this is super weird. Who should I hit?” 

Magnus pointed with his lance, a huge grin stretched across his face. “Protect my friends. Red orb!”

“Red orb. Got it.”

The tiefling leapt forward, dropping her bo staff to just start whaling on the orb, until it was breaking and cracked and leaking, seeming an instant away from disintegrating. She dissipated in the middle of a blow, until she simply wasn’t there anymore. John didn’t move, seemingly stunned into immobility by the random portal that had started creating people who were beating him up. 

Angus stepped forward, wide eyes locked onto the engine. “Hello? Are you there, uh, Mr. Klarg?” 

The bugbear rushed out of the portal and grinned at the sight of Angus, in his full wrestling outfit save for the mask. “Hey, uh, hey kid. What’s going on.” 

“Um, first,” Angus, who had spent decades studying enchantment magic, who had studied it on a world that had once housed magic users so great that they literally pulled magic from the sky, he rushed forward and put his hands to his friend’s head. With a focused chant, he dispelled any hint of the charm person spell that was still clinging to the Bugbear’s mind. 

“Now, do you still feel up to helping ‘your very good friend Taako’?” 

“Eh, why not?” 

“The yellow orb, can you get that one?” He’d been unconscious and couldn’t remember exactly what the orbs did, but he at least knew they all needed to be destroyed. 

“You got it.” Klarg charged at the orb, used every bit of the infamous Bugbear aggression, his wrestling moves, and his expertise from running a gerblin cave. He pummeled the orb, only pausing when a voice from the other side of the portal called his name. 

He sent Angus an apologetic look. “That’s my cousin, I can’t- I gotta go back to the fight in Neverwinter. Catch you later though?” 

“Of course, sir. I’ll bring the tea.” 

Taako stepped forward as Klarg faded in the portal. The elf cleared his throat. “I want everyone to meet a new friend of mine. His name’s Joaquin! Light ‘em  _ up  _ Joaquin.” 

A young human man in an odd apron shot through the portal, somehow floating off of streams of electricity that was shooting out of his palms. The teen dropped the energy and ran to throw Taako into a hug. 

“It’s really cool to meet you. I-I-I didn’t think that we’d ever actually get to, say hey in person. Thanks for the wizard powers, by the way. I’ve killed, like,  _ a hundred _ of these things.” 

Angus blinked. He didn’t know Taako was teaching anyone else magic. 

“Well, show me whatcha’ve got!” The elf replied, quickly returning and dropping the hug. “See those orbs, Joaquin? Blast ‘em!”

The teen launched himself into the air, beams of electricity arching down his arms and striking against the the three orbs and John’s monstrous form. John was rocked back a few steps, and the red and yellow orbs burst, leaving only John and the green orb to face them. Angus blinked at the teen. He  _ had _ to get Taako to teach him that spell. 

Joaquin floated back to Taako. “I’m gonna go back to saving my world, now! Good luck!” And he flew back through the portal. 

The attack seemed to finally get to John, as he turned and roared at Merle, the force so powerful that the dwarf’s har streamed out behind him. Merle let out a yell and clutched his head as he stumbled back and away from the monstrous form. Angus felt a flash of pity, he knew that feeling. The creature immediately turned to Taako, shooting a beam of power out of it’s face at Taako. The beam struck the elf right in the chest, and Angus heard the man make a pained ‘oof’ sound in protest as the force struck. 

Angus moved to help Merle up, whispering calming words as the green orb pulsed, and nearly all of the damage they had managed to inflict on John and the green orb were reversed.

“We have to get the green orb.” Angus breathed. “I should have had Klarg go for the green, the green orbs always mean health.” 

Merle shook off the boy’s hand and turned away from the beast, which seemed to strengthen his resolve. He looked to the bond engine. “Hey, Garfield the Deals Warlock, I’ve got a deal for ya!”

A familiar figure walked through the portal. Even after only meeting him once, Angus immediately recognized the indescribable figure to meet them. After all, he didn’t think he would ever forget the guy who sold him his Book of Interception. 

Garfield the deals warlock smirked at their group. “You know it’s not usually my business to hand out, uh, goods and services for free, but something tells me that if that thing hits our world, then, uh… i’m going to have to close up shop again! And i can’t go through that, emotionally, so… what’ll you have?”

“Well uh, I mean like a— d’you have somethin’ you can  _ store _ — like a magic bowling ball bag that we could store that big green orb in, and it won’t be powerful? You got anything like that? Or just something to like, really mess it up?” 

“Let me see what I’ve got in here.” He dropped his backpack off of his shoulders and leaned into it until only his legs were visible, digging through the bag of holding as he looked through his wares. He came out with a grenade in his distinctly-colored hand and looked between the group, the monster, and the grenade. Angus could almost see the math floating around his head as he did his cost-benefit analysis. Then the warlock shrugged. 

“You boys know the best part of the fantasy costco?” 

He pulled the pin out of the grenade and sent them a wide cheshire grin. “The free samples!” 

The grenade exploded, centered between John and the final remaining orb, and in its aftermath, the green orb was glowing grey, as though some of it’s power had been leached out of it. 

Garfield slowly floated back through the portal. “I’ll put it on your taaaaaaab.” He cried out as he faded away. 

Angus shuddered. He would be perfectly content not to meet that individual again. Cree-py. 

Magnus summoned an elemental with a talking bird that Angus remembered from his glimpses into Refuge courtesy of Lady Istus, who proceeded to turn into a giant clay fist that sucker punched the monster with a blow that sent it reeling. John was incessed at the levy of attacks. He swiped at Angus and sent the child rolling across the deck. It attempted to shoot a beam at Magnus, but the fighter brought up his shield just in time to deflect it. 

Angus looked at the portal. “Febni!” He yelled. “Febni are you there?” 

Suddenly the gnome was running out of the portal, appearing much older than she had in Fingston, but with the same wicked grin. It faltered when she caught eight of the monster. “Alien kid, what’s up? I was just chilling in my lab and this weird portal popped up and I head your voice. And now there's some kinda freaky monster thing?" 

“Well, you know that thing that we were trying to fight when we came to Fungston? We're kinda in the boss battle now, and I’m hoping you did a lot more with your explosions since Lup and I left."

“You know it!” She grinned again and pulled a small explosive from her backpack, along with some kind of launcher. With a wink to the boy she pulled a trigger on the launcher, sending the bomb to the top of the monster’s crown. John roared in pain as it exploded on his head. 

“Thanks Febni!” 

“No problem, my dude. I’m head of the science department now, gotta teach all the newbies how we do. You keep, uh, keep ballin'” She fist bumped the boy as she went back through the portal. Angus grinned at her back until Taako’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. 

“You’re really in trouble now, mister.” The elf threatened. “I am going to call upon someone who inspires me every day to be a better wizard and a better person, um. He’s my hero, really. And, uh… you’re dead. His name is Taako!”

At the moment that the green orb came between Taako and John, the elf cast a spell and a brilliant flash of light shot from his hand. The beam tore through John and the orbs until the beast was roaring in anger and scratching at it’s eyes, and the orbs look moments away from simply crumbling. 

“You’re all double-blind!” The elf boasted. 

Merle raised his Bible, then seemed to pause and shook his head, as though a vision of the future warned him against his next course of action. Instead of casting the spell, he turned to the portal. “Yo Fisher, get out here.” 

The two Voidfish floated from the portal, and Magnus yelled with glee, “Fisher! Junior! You guys look great” 

The baby Voidfish twirled around Merle, while Fisher made a beeline to Magnus and put a tendril on his shoulder. Fisher sang a little song to the man before sliding another tendril to the nearby Angus and giving him a small hug. After a moment, Fisher floated over to Merle and Junior and hummed at the dwarf. 

Merle asked, “Can you make the remaining orbs not exist anymore?” 

At that, the Voidfish song changed, going from the soothing, ephemeral chime to a furious battle hymn. The song was full of base and harsh chords, furiously fast and energizing. The two jellyfish floated to the remaining orb, their tendrils becoming hard and sharp. They stabbed at the orb over and over again, like a magician sticking swords in the box that hid their lovely assistant. Then, unanimously, they pulled their tentacles out of the orbs, and completely tore them apart. 

Their song turned joyful and the fish floated back through the portal with a few final waves at the group. Magnus waved back enthusiastically. “Oh, oh my turn. I want to summon the Power Bear.” 

Angus had not gotten to meet the bear, but he’d heard stories, from both Magnus and Mama Vixen and Mama Jaguar. Still, he was amazed when the hulking figure barreled it’s way through the portal, it’s huge form looming over them. The bear’s teeth and claws were monstrous, and it turned every bit of the raw, intimidating power that he exuded onto John. Huge claws raked the beast’s opal skin, the bear’s bulging muscles forcing the Hunger from the puddle of opal he’d been standing in and making him stumble. 

Finally, the monster was starting to show some wear. 

“Wait, before you go!” Magnus called as the bear made his way back to the portal. “Did you see the mask I made that looks like a bear face?!”

“Is that— is that for me?” The bear asked. 

“Yeah! ‘Cause like, you taught me about fighting and stuff! And so, like, it’s like a mentor/mentee.”

The bear let out a low, rumbling laugh. “That’s really cool. Don’t forget what I taught you, you can win this! You can do this.” Then he went through the portal and disappeared. 

John, disoriented and enraged, sent a streak of black fire streams along the ground. Angus leaped out of the way, avoiding the worst of the attack, though he was not able to completely escape, as the dark fire splashed into the air and singed his arm hairs, leaving a light burn across both arms. Then, to Angus’s horror, John ignored them for his next attack, instead shooting his face beam into the Bond Engine at the back of the ship. Angus cursed vehemently as one of the panels popped open, emitting a thick, noxious plume of smoke. 

Davenport struggled to maintain control of the ship. Angus could feel in his heart, that warm safe presence that had been there ever since the Engine had been activated, it was gone. It was up to just them once more. 

Angus scowled, rolling to his feet. He locked eyes with Taako, and one look was all it took for Angus to know that the powerful wizard's next spell could very be the one to end the fight, provided it would land. Angus turned to the monster, and before it could unleash yet another attack, he cast Hold Monster, a compulsion to stay still that would rival that of any master of enchantment magic they would ever meet. The beast's locked, and it teetered as it grew paralyzed, sharp nails embedded in the hull of the ship the only thing keeping it upright. He nodded to Taako as the beast roared it's fury. 

Taako took a step forward and looked John in the eye. “Well …Bye!”

In an instant, the wizard shoved the KrEbStAr towards the monster and conjured a gigantic cylinder, one that was ten feet wide and thirty feet high. John started  _ screaming _ , shrieking and crying out as the wind peeled him out of the portal and began tearing him apart at the black stone seams. The beast was helpless to evade, held fast by Angus's spell. The wind raged and tore at the ship, seeming to pull at Taako from where he stood nearby the creature. 

The wizard was stumbling forward, pulled by the wind’s force. Magnus grabbed Taako’s shoulder to brace him. Angus expertly turned and pulled his crossbow from its hiding place simultaneously, shooting a bolt into the hull of the ship and clutching the rope that he had tied to it earlier. He slid across the pitching ship hull until he could grab Taako’s legs along with Merle. The elf was anchored by Magnus’s hand on his shoulder, Merle’s weight on his feet, and the crossbow bolt Angus had sunk into the ship. The elf himself pulled an immovable rod out of his bag and held it tight. 

He wasn’t going anywhere. 

The wind fought their grip, trying with all of it’s might to pull them away, rend them from the ship, but they refused. The four of them held on as one, and they  _ did not move _ . Angus blinked, eyes scrunched against the wind as a single white thread appeared, connecting Taako to Magnus. Then, another appeared. This one connected Magnus and Merle. Another connected Merle to Angus, then Angus to Taako. Thread after thread formed, connecting them, tangling together in a magnificent spiderweb of a thousand strands that brought Angus’s mind to the interwoven yarn of Lady Istus’ tapestry. The strings, the  _ bonds  _ between them filled them with power, with might, energizing the party and holding them firm as the monster was lifted into the air, but they still remained firm. 

Each bond was a scene, a flash into the past. It showed the 7 IPRE members going through training and orientation, the moment Angus was discovered by the team, the beach year, the hundred different worlds, the train, candlenights, magic lessons, Refuge, Merle and Taak’s desperate rescue of Magnus from the astral plane in Wonderland. Thousands of moments, moments of friendship, love, shared pain, humor, they wrapped around them. The light pulsed once more, trailing from the strings of their bonds and feeding into Taako’s spell. The beast shrieked in horrific pain as the light filled it completely, enveloping the monster until it was pouring out of it’s mouth, chest wound, and claws. The wind storm raged on, lifting John from the deck of the ship as the lights continued to shine brighter. 

The lights grew as the bonds continued to coalesce, a hundred years of bonds enveloping the four. The light grew brighter and brighter, overwhelming Angus until there was nothing else. 

When Angus could see again, blinking against the starbursts in his eyes, he was surprised to find that the constant rolling and turning of the ship had stopped. He looked around hesitantly, noting that the bow of the ship was buried into the obsidian sand that made up the heart of the Hunger. 

They… they had done it. They had actually made it. John was defeated, and they were in the heart of the Hunger. 

Around them were hundreds of the tendrils and minions of the darkness, but they were kept at bay. The creatures were rebuffed by Lucretia’s shield, which had expanded from protecting the woman to protecting the entirety of the ship. He turned to see Davenport, their captain who had expertly navigated through the attacking foe, who had managed to land the ship exactly where it needed to be despite the fact that the engine was broken. The gnome was at the engine now, working quickly to repair John’s damage to the point that the engine was already starting to spin again, albeit much slower than before. 

On the hull in front of them stood Lucretia, gripping his oak staff in assured hands as she gazed into the inky expanse around them. The orb which had housed the Animus Bell lay inert, drained of the power of the Light of Creation. The woman closed her eyes and a soft white light pulsated from her staff. Her lips ran continually, sweat beading on her bow and back ramrod straight as she struggled to complete the last of the spell, the spell to end all spells, to end the hundred year chase and fight, the destruction that could have started centuries before their plight began. Finally the woman cast out her arms and energy puled from her staff into the air beyond their protected ship. 

From behind, the Bond Engine began humming once more and Davenport shouted, “Got it!” Angus turned, but his eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the same white-string bonds that had surrounded them during the fight were now twining around Davenport. The gnome looked down at the strings to where they connected him out through the engine. 

“Wait, what?” Davenport asked, looking back at their group in surprise. Yet even as the threads encircled him and began to drag him back through the portal he didn’t looked panicked. Angus understood. The bonds were too comforting, too powerfully wonderful. It was impossible to feel fear in them. 

The man was pulled into the portal and disappeared, but as they watched, the bond-strings continued to move, weaving together for form the idyllic scene of a pine grove within a forest, with the threat of the Hunger hovering above. 

“It looks…” Angus breathed. “It’s the woods outside Neverwinter, it’s the way home.” 

Lucretia glanced over then, distracted from her spell for a moment as she caught what Angus saw. She shouted. “Go, it’s— it’s almost ready! I’ll put up the barrier, and I’ll make a run for it, but this is  _ your _ chance, I can hold them off, just go!”

Magnus growled. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Angus jumped as a crash sounded around them, then gripped his fork-wand tightly in hand as the cries and snarls of the shadows became cacophonous. The barrier around the ship had fallen. Angus started forward immediately, rushing towards Lucretia. The woman’s brows were still pinched together, her lips ever-moving as she continued to cast the spell, even as she reached out a hand towards Angus. 

Then, everything froze. The world turned a bit… dull, a bit grey. Then, Lady Istus was there. The goddess was just as grey and muted as the rest of the world, but she was keeping a promise. She was giving them time to decide. Magnus looked to the three of them. “I’m not going anywhere. There’s no question.”

“Well, I’m going to stay, because who would fail to heal him if he needed to be healed? I’m staying here.” Merle nodded.

Angus nodded. “I’m not leaving her. I- I won’t let her be alone. Not now.” 

Taako’s ear’s flicked back and forward, displaying unease though there was not an ounce of indecision in his voice. “I’m— I’m sorry, guys, but I have to help Lup. If there’s anything I can do for her, I— I gotta be with her.”

“Absolutely.” Magnus said immediately and Angus nodded. 

“Of course.” 

Taako ran for the portal, jumping through as the biggest bond one could have lead him straight to his twin, his world, his sister. They watched, stuck in this small pocket of time, as the scene changed to Lup and Barry. They fought back to back, together again and tethered by thousands of strings that were no doubt invisible on the ground. 

They were also  _ tearing it up _ . The minions of the Hunger were dying and disintegrating left and right, burning, withering and crumbling in the face of the two powerful magic users. Behind them, they could see glimpses of the rest of the battle. Shadows were falling under the wheels of Hurley and Sloane’s battle wagon with the Hammerhead shark tank running over any they missed, Little Jerry on top yelling orders. Klarg was back with his family, piling onto the shadows and tearing them apart. The folks of refuge were using magic, and explosives to tear through the enemy. Ma Vistra was standing back to back with Da Therolf, meat cleavers in hand.

The image distorted as Taako jumped back through the portal. “Hey, it’s seems like they’ve got it, so. I’m good to hang.”

“Are you guys, like, 100%?” 

“Yeah, why not.” Taako answered. 

Angus nodded. “I am sir.” 

“Yeah, let’s go.” Merle added.

“Alright, let’s do it.” The human gave the goddess a double-low five. 

Huh. He didn't blow up. Angus was a little embarrassed. Istus sent Angus a smile and a wink as she disappeared. As she faded through the rift and time started to catch back up, Angus heard her parting words. 

“You’re going to be amazing.” 

And then the world was technicolor again, moving at full speed as the shadows swarmed the hull of the ship. The monsters were scrambling to Lucretia, hunger and malice in their eyes. The woman was still reaching for them, but, with the aid of Lady Istus’s time skip, they were charging past her as she reached for empty space. 

Magnus was fastest, shield held high as he barreled into the thrall and completely disappeared under a wave of dark shadows. Taako, astride a glorious bi-nicorn, followed, summoning a column of flame as he too dove into the fight and disappeared. Merle didn’t run into the pit of monsters, but Angus could see the light shooting from the dwarf’s bible and into the fray as he did. Lightening sparked and sizzled around Angus as he dove into the mass of dark, ferocious fighting beasts. Monsters around him shrieked and feel back against his lightning attacks. He heard Lucretia scream, and looked back to see her head had fallen back to look into the sky, following a beam of light that had shot from her staff. The monsters finally overwhelmed the boy and blocked off his line of sight. The Hunger’s minions were swarming him as he desperately sent off spell after spell, feeling the attacks of countless beasts.

Then, suddenly, there was  _ light.  _

* * *

Angus shifted, suddenly feeling much more… comfortable than he had just moment’s before. He shifted in confusion, and heard the familiar crinkle of pages under his cheek. The child blinked and slowly rose his head, brow furrowed in confusion when he saw that he had fallen asleep at a table on top of his Book of Interception. Confused, but not necessarily worried, (which was odd. Hadn’t- hadn’t he just been in a battle? Hadn’t it been almost certain that the Hunger’s beasts would tear him apart just moments ago? Why did he feel so at peace now?) the boy looked around. 

Merle, Magnus, and Taako were there, all also clearly just waking up. Merle was playing with his Scuttlebuddy, but Magnus and Taako were just looking around the familiar setting in confusion. 

Because- because it was familiar, wasn’t it? This was- he woke up on the Rockport Limited. Where they had met in this world. Even the luggage looked exactly as he remembered it, which was very accurate considering his situational awareness and detective eye. Angus glanced down at his Book of Interception to see the most recent blocked correspondence:  _ Leeman Kessler and Co. not who they say they are. STOP Charm magic spell performed at the station. STOP Hand over to authorities immediately upon arrival in Neverwinter. STOP _

“Oh no!” He said, and the other three looked over at the dawning horror on his face. “It was all just a  _ dream _ . I dreamed the whole thing. It was the waffle croutons, wasn’t it? I knew those things weren’t natural.” Darn, that had been a very cool dream too, the kind he usually only got after a particularly indulgent Caleb Cleveland marathon. 

He could see the other three sharing startled glances, and he wondered if they also ate the croutons and had weird dreams. 

He pouted, never mind if that was something he usually thought too juvenile to do, and looked out the window. Then, his jaw dropped. Oh, this certainly had  _ not  _ just been a dream. 

The world outside the window was a pure blank white, as though nothing in the universe existed beyond this train car. The boy scowled, mind racing furiously as he attempted to connect the dots between his last memories- he’d cast Mind Thrust on a Aarakocra shadow, and now he was in a train that seemed to exist… no where? 

Had he died? Was his afterlife this tiny train with his three family members? Four, he amended when Lucretia stood and he realized she was there as well. 

“What’s that?” Merle asked, and Angus turned to look out the window, realizing belatedly that the world beyond the windows wasn’t as empty as he’d thought it was. Instead, in the white expanse beyond their train he could see hundreds of thousands of circles floating in the beyond. Merle was pointing at one such circle, which had gotten very close to the train, close enough for them to see that the orb, presumably  _ every _ orb, contained it’s own planar system. 

“Still think you’re dreaming, pumpkin?” Taako asked. 

“No, now I’m thinking that we died.” He replied, but smiled at the elf to show it was a goof. 

Ok, mostly a goof. 

70/30 

Suddenly, every instinct within Angus screamed as one, saying that  _ someone  _ was there. He couldn’t know who it was, and he couldn’t see them, but he was as sure of their presence as if they were staring him in the face. If the looks on the others’ faces were anything to go by, they could feel it as well. 

Then, suddenly, a pleasant voice spoke, the voice of the still unseeable presence. 

“Hey. Um, not dead. I can assure you of that. I know you’re confused, and, uh, I can— I can explain some of what’s going on, but I need you all to be cool about this, okay? This is breaking virtually every protocol that we’ve got in place, but I think this qualifies as extenuating circumstances.”

“ _ DM?”  _ Magnus asked, shocked, and Angus slipped off his hat in respect. 

“Um, that’s not- no, ugh, see this is exactly what I was afraid of.” Angus slowly slid his hat back on. “Oh man, this— maybe this was a bad idea… I can’t— I can’t tell you my name, I don’t wanna— I don’t wanna run the risk of one of you, like, going back and starting a doomsday cult in my name or anything, but, um, I—”

The being, which Magnus had dubbed Jeffandrew for lack of an actual name, explained that he and a collection of others created the world and existence that they had lived in. All of the worlds, the hundred that they had visited and the thousands surrounding them that they hadn’t. The Hunger had broken the very rules that had been set in place in the inception of the world, utilizing the power of the Light of creation and the power of the bonds it continuously stole and fed upon. When the bonds were severed by Lucretia’s shield, the Hunger was forced to this place- the place of nowhere- where Jeffandrew and his companions could take care of it. 

“Who did that by the way?” The mysterious presence asked. “Who cast that spell? That— I didn’t think anything like that was  _ possible _ .”

Angus pointed at Lucretia as Magnus answered. “That was uh, her.” 

Lucretia waved to the empty car, looking supremely awkward. 

“You’re… the most powerful person I think I’ve ever met, and I— I owe you an enormous debt of gratitude.”

“I  _ did _ cast the Whirlwind thing—I mean, I didn’t want— I thought you were talking about me, honestly, hi, Taako from TV, did— Just want to double check, are you sure I’m not dead? The brat usually isn’t wrong.” 

“No, you’re not dead, you, uh—”

“ _ Noice!” _

“That’s a relief, sir.” Angus breathed. 

“Is this Purgatory?” Magnus asked. 

“No, it’s not that either.” 

“That’s what he would say, though!” Taako protested. 

“It’s  _ Nowhere. _ ” Merle added. 

Angus scrunched up his face. “Is this like, a Lost thing where you say it wasn’t purgatory, but it was totally purgatory the whole time? Like, why the random train? Taako didn’t you make this train disappear?” Suddenly a memory sparked. “Wait, the spell didn’t work all the way, did it? I remember thinking that something was weird about how I never heard about a train appearing in someone’s garden. Is this- do all failed teleportations end up here?” 

“Oh! I couldn’t figure out why you were on a- well that makes sense I suppose. Since the train was in Nowhere, I guess that’s why you’re… here too. Gosh, we got some… we got some stuff to work out.” 

Jeffandrew continued, explaining that he and his fellow creators didn’t have the tools or ability to interfere with a world once it was made, and therefore couldn’t do anything to stop the Hunger or retrieve the Light of Creation once it had slipped from their grasp and into the worlds below. Then things went a little esoteric as Jeffandrew described a never ending chain of worlds and creators. Somehow the topic was related to a drink that Angus hadn’t been allowed to drink back on their home planet. He wasn’t entirely sure how that had happened, but there you go. 

The child was fascinated, by Jeffendrew, this Nowhere place, the unexpected insight into the very nature of his universe. Magnus, Merle, and Taako made goofs with the… uh not-quite-deity, but Angus was just… soaking it all in. 

“Alright, I got a serious question.” Merle proclaimed. 

“I doubt it.” Magnus muttered. So did Angus, but he didn’t say so out loud. 

“Did we win?” 

Oh. That was, that was actually the most important question. 

“By any measure, Merle, you won.”

Angus smiled widely, and a weight that he didn’t know he’d been holding, a weight that he’d carried, consciously or not, for roughly 110 years, eased. 

Jeffandrew continued, explaining that it was too dangerous for them to stay much longer. The train around them started to fade, or maybe they were fading from the train. 

The presence continued, explaining the uncertainty that came with creating a world, and the doubt that their world was capable of being saved. The voice became more and more distant as the image of the train flickered and dulled. Angus could barely catch Jeffandrew’s last words. “Thank you for… thank you for proving me right.”

* * *

Angus blinked, and he was in Neverwinter. Around him, the city had been reduced to the rubble of an epic battleground. Different Milita uniforms mingled together as one, battlewagons idled in the city streets, Klarg stood near Ma Vistra, and the people of refuge were quickly working to douse the wicks of dynamite they had been preparing to throw. 

And there were Lup and Barry, in front of them, still back to back. Barry had dark shadows enveloping his hands, and Lup’s palms were still on fire. 

They… they were back. The Hunger, there enemies, were completely gone without a trace, only the effects of the battle still visible. 

“Hi!” Magnus waved. 

“We met the DM! We just m— we  _ just  _ met the DM and we found out that he couldn’t—” Merle blurted, but Magnus interrupted. 

“And he said he wanted us all to worship in his name! Jeffandrew!” 

“Jeffandrew, everyone say it with me. Jeffandrew!” Taako added. 

Angus nodded vehemently. “Yes, he definitely wanted to be worshiped. In fact, he wants everyone to build a shrine to him, like right now. To Jeffandrew. He wants everyone to know it.” 

The four of them started chanting the name, speaking in sync as Barry and Lup stepped closer to the five of them who had sailed into the heart of the Hunger. Angus wasn’t sure when Davenport had appeared, but the gnome was looking at them with just as much confusion as literally everyone else. 

Barry and Lup looked on with intense disbelief, and almost painful hope. They didn’t say anything, as though afraid that simply asking the question would bring the Hunger back. 

Beside Angus, Lucretia smiled, and nodded. Barry and Lup immediately turned to one another and embraced, as much as was possible with the lich still in her ghostly form. Then, Lup swooped down to hug Lucretia, and Barry shook hands with Davenport. Angus realized, quite suddenly, they were celebrating. 

They had something to  _ celebrate _ . After a century of work, tears, fears and failures. They had a reason to celebrate. Even though he had been there, even as he had seen every last moment, he couldn’t believe it. 

“We, we did it, Sir. We won.” He breathed to Taako as Lup moved over to embrace him. 

Taako smiled at the child wrapped in his sister’s skeletal arms. “You know what, little man? Believe it or not, we did.”

Suddenly, Magnus grabbed the boy’s sides and hoisted him onto his shoulder. The fighter was absolutely beaming. “Let ‘em know, kid.” 

Angus flicked his fork at his throat, casting a spell that would project his voice. “Hey, everybody! The Song was right! We did it! We  _ won _ !” 

And he was there, at the center of the crowd, as everyone he knew  _ cheered.  _

* * *

The world was hurt badly by the attack, despite victory. Even if they had won, they still had a long path of recovery. Strangely enough, Angus found himself used as a conduit between several Milita parties. Towns that had been rivals found it acceptable to talk though him as the world worked together to reform. It felt at times impossibly slowly, at others unbelievable quickly, but little by little the world recovered. No, it  _ thrived _ . 

Cities were rebuilt and made beautifully. Goldcliffe became, rather than an area of greed and riches that had been a hotbed of fraud cases for Angus, a gorgeous resort area where race fans from around the globe came to cheer the battlewagons. 

Refuge became a popular mining town as diamonds were discovered in a rift caused by the Hunger’s attack. Neverwinter’s citizens all banded together, each and every one of them giving what aid they could to rebuild and clean their beloved city. The ruler of Neverwinter, Lord Artemis Sterling who Angus somewhat recognized from Wonderland, dissolved the council that once ran it, and transformed the city into a beacon of equality and justice. The Militia captain who had given Angus Caleb Cleveland and the Candlenights Caper became Sterling’s right hand man for the endeavor. He and his team took to the task with enthusiasm and relish. 

The small dwarven towns that house the Boyland Family and Lady Istus’s temple weren't especially impacted, though they became larger and more visited as tales of their heroics and generosity spread. The Boyland family utilized the attention to begin hosting an annual memorial Boyland camping retreat that the whole town participated in, which raised money for charities and reconstruction projects. Vistra confessed to Angus once when he came to visit that now that she could remember her husband, she could remember a conversation they had when all of the many wives and husbands were indulging in a group cuddle session. Boyland had claimed that he was taking a new job, that it was dangerous, but he wanted to accept it in order to give his kids a better world to grow up in. A safer world. The charity camping trip was their way to continue his legacy.

Angus was the first name on the list. 

He also got an official letter of pardon from the Library.

* * *

On a more personal note, Angus found the next year to be full of opportunities he’d never have dreamed of. The Battlefest Wrestling organization took a two month pause as most of their fighters had been injured in the battle in some way, and so Angus and Klarg went on a brief mystery-solving exclusion around Faerun, similar to what they had been planning had the Charm Person spell never gone wrong. It had been a wonderful adventure.

General Khalen had learned first hand what happened when one hurt one of Angus’s friends, and what the wrath of a Bugbear felt like. Angus didn’t think it was a lesson that had to be taught twice.

As he’d mentioned at their first anniversary on the world, Angus enrolled in a school. More specifically, he enrolled in the Academy of Arcane Sciences, created by the scientist who had made the very bad robot toy. Despite his fears and misgivings a decade ago, he  _ loved  _ it. Even for all of his knowledge, he found he still had  _ so much  _ to learn. And he loved to learn. While Angus was the youngest student, physically, he certainly did not find himself without friends. In fact, he made  _ so many  _ friends. He started up a Rebound team, which grew into a Rebound league. He was always picked first when choosing teams.

Over the breaks and weekends, Angus would go visit his family. Magnus let him pick a puppy from his first batch of dogs he was planning to train as adventuring companions. He later switched from Golden Retrievers to less easy-going dogs, but the pair of them continued to train Tess together. For the most part, he had put a pause of the detective work, deciding to grow up a bit and take time to be a kid as Magnus had suggested in Wonderland. Still, that didn’t stop him from dabbling a bit, when a death criminal was proving especially difficult for Lup, Barry, and Taako’s boyfriend to track down.

Mr.Kravitz was very nice, and absolutely perfect for Taako. Angus almost felt bad for the truly brutal interrogation he’d performed on the Reaper when he heard about the relationship. That is to say, he didn’t feel bad at all, especially not how Taako’s entire face went red when Kravitz assured the elf that he wouldn’t mind dating a father, but he pretended he did when confronted about it.

He also did some work for the newly created Bureau of Benevolence, though not a large amount. His relationship with Lucretia was a bit… strained, at first. She hadn’t set out to harm Angus, but he’d suffered all the same. However, he wasn’t one to hold a grudge, and each meeting the two shared brought them one step closer to normal.

Davenport is harder to get ahold of as he explores the world and the sea in his ship, but they chat whenever the gnome has service, and have started making plans for Angus to join the man on a short excursion next spring break.

Summer is reserved for being one of Merle’s first students for his Extreme Teen Adventure camp. He isn’t technically a teen, but Merle didn’t mind.

Well, he got bullied into not-minding. Angus managed to arrange for Haddie and Grolf to be on the roster for the first camps as well, and almost every Boyland of age has their name on the list at some point over the summer. Speaking of the Boylands, Angus started making the rough draft of his newest novel. Caleb Cleveland and the Disaster at the Dwarven Den, featuring a large, friendly dwarf family and an excitable dwarf girl who may or may not become Caleb’s first ever permanent companion.

At the end of the first year of school, each of the eight birds, and Klarg, made time to come to the end-of-year picnic hosted by Lucas. Ma Vistra couldn’t come because their local school wasn’t out yet, but she sent a box of cinnamon rolls that finally had Taako agreeing to come with Angus to visit next time he went down. Lucas made a point to speak to each parent, but he stayed with his group for the longest, catching up with Lucretia, Davenport, Magnus, Merle and Taako, and bragging profusely about Angus’s progress in classes.

“In fact, uh, in a year or two, I might have Angus start teaching. He certainly knows the material well enough.” Lucas said to a raptly listening Lucretia and Davenport. Taako nudged Angus with an elbow.

“You wanna… drop the zero and get with the hero, or what?” He asked, referencing his own magic/cooking/fashion/Taako school. 

Angus giggled and gave a dramatic shrug. “I don’t know sir, I mean, I already got the complete Taako crash course,  _ twice.” _

“And yet you still dress like that. It’s a shame. I’ve done all that I can.” He sighed woefully.

Angus grinned and rolled his eyes. “I mean if you can uh, p-provide an uh, attractive enough job offer I’ll think about it. I— I’m kinda in high demand at the moment. I’m just a little kid, but, I wanna be fairly compensated for my efforts and abilities.”

The elf seemed to think that through carefully. “Okay, let me show you the benefits package.” And them, he opened his arms wide, clearly showing himself. “Here it is. What do you think?”

And really, wasn’t that the only thing Angus needed? A place with his family, with his friends, where he could be  _ happy _ . It wouldn’t do much to tell him that though, after all, the pirates on cycle 54 had taught him all about bartering. “It’s, well, I’ll have my people talk to your people, sir!”

The elf humphed, and dug into the potato salad on his plate, despite the fact that he bemoaned the lack of seasoning after every bite.

“Why don’t you just transfigure some seasonings, sir?”

“Look kid, this is a picnic, a school picnic. The whole point of it is to eat crappy, under seasoned food and smile at other parents while gossiping with other parents about how Karen just went to Fantasy Kroger instead of making anything. Don’t steal this experience from me.”

Angus shook his head, but couldn’t help grinning at the ‘other parents’ comment. His smile fell as he tread dangerous waters with Taako, talking about something serious. “Hey, Taako. I don’t think I ever said… Thank you.” The elf shot him a puzzled look as the boy continued. “Thank you for all the things that you did for me back when you didn’t realize- when you didn’t even  _ know _ me. Thank you for all that you taught me when I, when I was alone. I can’t- my thanks can’t really be enough I know that. But it… meant a lot to me, that you were there.”

The elf’s ears twitched, alternating between awkward and pleased. “Starting salary is non-negotiable.”

Angus laughed and pulled the elf down in a hug. “You… teaching me magic when you did, when I was at my lowest point, showing me that  _ someone  _ cared… Being there for me and answering when I called to ask about spells or anything else… I want you to know that… by doing that you changed my life, Taako. Both Angus McDonalds’ and Angus the Detectives. You— you changed my life.”

The elf stuffed another wad of salad into his mouth quickly. “Okay, somewhat negotiable. Wh— it is open to negotiation.”

Angus laughed, but at that moment Kravitz sat down next to Taako and somewhat forestalled their conversation. “Babe,” Taako said enthusiastically. “You have  _ got  _ to try this potato salad. It’s  _ horrible _ .”

Angus snorted and took a bite of the fantastic coleslaw that Taako had provided. It had disappeared from the table moments after the food lines opened, so he was trying to savor it. Kravits looked at the elf in amusement.

“Then why would I want to try it?” He asked, even as he dipped his fork into the mush.

“So you can appreciate my cooking even more. Besides, you have to eat  _ something _ , and my coleslaw disappeared like it was going out of style. Which-“

“It never will, of course.” Angus quoted alongside Taako with a laugh. The elf flicked his forehead lightly, amusement written across his face.

“You know, I  _ don’t  _ actually have to eat, right?” Kravits asked, before inclining his head to Angus. “Good day Angus. Congratulations on completing your first year. I am glad to hear that it went well.” He greeted, even more uber-polite than he typically was.

Taako groaned. “Come on pumpkin, spill. What the heck did you do to break my boyfriend.”

“Nothing, sir.” Angus grinned, all teeth. “We just had a perfectly pleasant conversation. Right, Mr.Kravitz?”

“Perfectly pleasant.” The reaper parroted, then gave Angus a secret smile and wink as Taako moaned into his hands dramatically. Angus ate a bite of his sandwich to bite back a giggle. Taako was so much fun to mess with. 

“Speaking of boyfriends.” Lup said loudly, and all attention went to her. Angus wondered if she was going to propose to Barry, who was suddenly looking very nervous. “Guess who else may soon be bringing along a significant other.”

Angus startled, leaning forward as though to stop the elf, newly in her corporeal form. It didn’t work. “That’s right, Angus has a  _ daa-ate. _ ”

“How did you know?” Angus gasped.

“It’s circled and highlighted in your calendar, Mickey-Dee.”

Angus groaned as the table erupted into comments and questions.

“You’re not wearing  _ that _ , are you?” Taako asked.

“No sir, I have a special outfit already picked out, it-“

Taako was already shaking his head. “Nope nope nope, it won’t do. It’s  _ hideous _ . We’ll have to go shopping.” Lup leaned over to give him a high five and the two looked at him speculatively.

“You haven’t even seen it.”

“I’ve seen your wardrobe. I don’t need to be the world greatest detective to deduce that it’s horrible.”

Lup nodded and pat the kid’s head. “Don’t worry, we’ll help you.”

“Where are going?” Davenport asked.

“W-well, I’m still doing research for that part.”

“Where’s the date going to be? I can tell you all kinds of interesting places.”  Lucretia looked like she might cry, and Barry was offering to teach him some pick up lines that ‘really worked for him’, while Magnus tried to wheedle out of Angus who the mystery date was, but Angus wasn’t budging on that part.

Merle squinted at the boy. “Aren’t you a little young for all this dating stuff. You’re the same age as Mavie, she better not be thinking about dating yet.”

“Well sir, I’m kinda. 11 and a half, 14-ish, 24-ish, and 114 years old all at the same time. It’s kinda hard to determine a good dating age. I did ask permission from their parents first.”

“Humph.” The gnome grumbled, and Angus bit back a smile before turning to see Taako and Lup’s contemplative gazes.

“I’m thinking… stripes.”

Angus slipped from the bench. “Hey, uh, Professor Lucas, isn’t it time for the water balloon fight?”

“Aw, but this is so entertaining.”

* * *

The date went off without a hitch. 

Although, Angus did have to use a bit of persuasion and illusion magic to keep certain… chaperones away.

A month or so after the picnic, on the last days of spring, Angus was invited to be in a wedding. It was very nice for the future Mrs. And Mrs. Fangbattle to invite him, considering they hadn’t met much beyond one legendary battle for the universe, and occasionally running into each other at the Bureau. The wedding was gorgeous, in a beautiful temple over the Stillwater sea. Merle presided, Taako cooked along with his business partner Ren, and Angus sat beside Mavis and Mookie, chatting about their excitement for the upcoming camp.

In the coming years, he found that the ten year sacrifice he gave up in Wonderland ended up being more of a blessing than a curse. It gave him a bit of a buffer, a time where he was able to get Angus McDonald, world explorer, more used to the concept of aging. Luckily, it wasn’t as much of a shock as it had been at the end of their century travelling, as Angus, homeless detective, had just gone through 11 or so years of growing up. Even with the 10 year pause, it felt… normal.

And that was just it. The years that followed were a whirlwind, a constant cycle of visiting friends all over the world and spending time with loved ones on breaks until he finished school a year or two after enrolling, followed by a stint working alongside Taako and Ren as an instructor for their school, then finally a successful career as a detective and novelist. He got married. He had children. He had grandchildren (who Taako convinced to tell him they forgot his name every time they saw him.). While there were many things that Angus held as precious, his silverware, the Rebound Championship trophy from Tesseralia and an identical trophy from Faerun, a medal of honor he got after solving a particularly important case, his wedding band, that was the most precious thing he had. The most important gift that Angus McDonald ever received. The gift of a normal life, surrounded by those he loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who is Angus going on a date with? Haddie? Grolf? Mavis? Some non dwarf child since I apparently made all of his friends dwarves? A schoolmate? A Rebound rival? 
> 
> I'll let you decide who you think he went on the date with. I have a couple ideas, but I wanted to leave it to your interpretation. 
> 
> Thank you again for reading!! Hope you all enjoyed my story, I loved sharing it with you!!


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